


Stealing The Angel's Heart

by critterdee_67, JenSpinner



Series: The Collective Works of Jen & Dee [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Artist Castiel, Based on the movie How to Steal a Million, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Castiel/Dean Winchester Flirting, Crafty Dean, Cute, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, Jealous Dean Winchester, Jealousy, M/M, Mick Davies likes Castiel, Non-violent crime, Pining, Rom-com, Romance, Sex, Sweet, Trapped In A Closet, Well to do Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-11-22 09:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/critterdee_67/pseuds/critterdee_67, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenSpinner/pseuds/JenSpinner
Summary: A romantic comedy about a man who must steal a painting from a New York gallery to help conceal his family's art forgery, and the burglar who helps him.This bit of fanfiction is based on the 1966 movie How to Steal a Million - starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole.





	1. Chapter 1

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/critterdee/49899645947/in/album-72157714319876883/)

Castiel is listening to the radio on his drive home from the Claborn Art Gallery, his favorite place in the whole world, except for, of course, his own home studio. His studio was his ‘happy place,’ where he could put his music on and paint until the early hours of the morning. When Castiel painted, he seemed to step outside of himself; it was almost as though his hands worked on their own, each stroke of his paintbrush against the textured canvas was deliberate and thought through. Each color was carefully mixed to the perfect shade; each line was pre-planned. Painting was where Castiel felt most free because it was where he had the most control; he chooses each line, color, image… He didn’t have that freedom in other areas of his life.

The old man talking at him through his speakers (who Castiel always pictured to look like Bob Ross due to his calming voice and gentle nature) was giving the latest news in the art world “The painting ‘Cupid and Psyche’ by Guillaume Seignac has just been purchased at auction…” 

That captures Castiel’s attention, and his eyes flick down to the speaker for a second as though he is expecting to see the radio presenter there, looking at him. Castiel knows, or thinks he knows who the buyer is, his family has always been interested in the fine arts, his parents making their millions buying and selling famous and some not so famous paintings. His brother Gabriel has taken up the mantel and carried on the tradition in their parent’s place. Castiel, however, would rather paint his own canvases, whether it be copying a masterpiece or something original from his own imagination. 

He pulls his car into the long driveway of his home, looking forward to getting back into his studio and shutting the world out for a while. He enters his family home, which he shares with his brother and is immediately greeted by a very excited Gabriel. 

“Cassie,” Gabriel beams, welcoming his brother home with an energetic hug, “You’re not going to believe what I bought for you today!” 

“Hello, Gabe. I think I may have a clue. Were you at the auction today?” 

“How did you know? It doesn’t matter. Come, come and see it. It’s so beautiful.”

Castiel follows his brother into the parlor to find exactly what he expected, the ‘Cupid and Psyche’ is leaning on an easel right next to Castiel’s own rendition of it, which is hanging on the wall. 

“Gabe, you know, I don’t need the original. I studied that painting long enough to paint it myself,” says Castiel pointing rather needlessly to his own canvas. 

“I know! And look!” says Gabriel excitedly, “To the untrained eye, they’re indistinguishable. The only clue is that yours has not been signed. Like I’ve said before, you could sell these for quite the price.” 

“And mine will never be signed because I’m not attempting to fool anyone. I’m merely studying the classics.” Cas says shooting Gabriel a look of warning. 

“But you paint them so perfectly. Just like Granddad did.” Gabe tries to meet and head off his brother’s impending foul mood. Castiel always got tense when Gabe brings up trying to sell his paintings.

“Gabriel...” 

Gabe flinched slightly at the use of his full name. 

“Do I have to sign the back of my painting so that you’ll keep your sticky fingers to yourself?” Cas asks with his eyebrows raised at Gabriel, who rolls his eyes as he shakes his head, “Good. So tell me, what are your plans for the original Seignac?” Cas asks, resigned to deal with his outlandish brother. 

“Why, sell it. Unless you want to keep it.” Gabe answers as if it was already obvious. 

“I hope you had it insured.” Cas sighs. “And thanks for the kind gesture, Gabe but I’m happy with mine. I hope you are able to sell it for more than you paid for it.”

Gabe smiles a wicked smile, “I always do.” 

“Well, I’ve had a long day, and I’m going to head on up to paint for a while before it gets too late. Will you be staying in tonight?”

“Oh, I’m going to a charity function tonight, so I’ll be out late,” Gabe answers, still focused on the two paintings in front of them as though trying to spot any differences. 

“Alright, have fun. I guess I’ll see you at breakfast then. Try not to buy anything!” Cas says with amusement in his voice before bidding his brother goodnight. 

“Good night, Cassie. Oh and don’t forget, the movers from the gallery are coming by tomorrow to take a few paintings for the showing.” Gabe looks lovingly up at his favorite painting ‘The Angel’s Heart.’ 

“Gabe, are you really going to allow_ that _ painting to be shown at the gallery? You know how nervous that makes me.”

“Oh, please, everything will be fine. It's only a loan; it's not like I’m trying to sell the thing. I’d never sell this one.” Gabe placates his brother. 

The Novak’s own some very famous and very expensive pieces and Gabriel had made a deal with the gallery to show several of the paintings from the collection. The most coveted by the gallery manager being a beautifully emotional painting depicting an angel overlooking a couple in love, ‘The Angel’s Heart.’ 

Castiel had tried repeatedly to talk Gabriel out of letting the gallery borrow ‘The Angel’s Heart’, he’d tried to reason with him that he was tempting fate. The truth was, that ‘The Angel’s Heart’ was a fake, a beautiful, jaw-dropping, heart-skipping, and breath-catching fake… but a fake all the same. It had been painted by their grandfather many years ago. Castiel’s grandfather, who had the same mischievous streak in him as Gabriel had boosted to a rival collector about how he had found and purchased the original ‘Angel’s Heart’ but of course, this had been a dangerous fabrication, that had gotten completely out of hand when the local papers had taken notice and done a small piece featuring a photograph of the painting… 

It had been sheer dumb luck that the painting’s originality hadn’t been brought into question at the time and now Castiel was forced to remind Gabriel over and over, that there are tests that can be done, tests that these days don’t even take very long and would - no doubt - prove that ‘The Angel’s Heart’ was a fraud and once that story got out, it would ruin Gabriel’s, and Castiel’s credibility, not to mention that it would bring every other piece they owned under scrutiny. 

But, Gabriel, being Gabriel... had already agreed to let the piece be loaned by the gallery and not only that… But now, the ‘Angel’s Heart’ was (much to Castiel’s horror) to be the centerpiece of the showing. 

Castiel forced himself not to worry about it as he moved his brush over the canvas in front of him, his eyes lit up, reflecting the glowing greens of the mystic night sky landscape he was painting. The lines of the lone dark tree at the front of the image were crisp and precise, but the clouds that littered the sky around it were fluffy and soft looking. Castiel cleaned his paintbrush and placed it down on a paper towel to dry before standing back and admiring the painting. He’d chosen to do a simple piece, something easy that he didn’t have to focus too hard on so that he could relax his racing thoughts about the art collectors visit the following day. When he finally went to bed, he felt slightly less panicked about his brothers deal with the gallery. 

That night, Castiel is tucked up in bed reading his favorite Alfred Hitchcock story, when he hears a noise downstairs. It’s getting late, but Castiel knows it’s still too early for Gabe to be home and the maid and the cook had gone home hours ago. He blames his nerves on the book he’s reading and tries to ignore his rising heartbeat. 

Until he hears another noise, it sounds like someone bumping into something. He feels the hairs on his neck prickle unpleasantly. There is definitely someone in the house. Castiel’s heart is racing as he strains his neck toward his bedroom door, listening carefully to make sure he’s not imagining things. He doesn’t hear anything, but now he’s too wound up to stay put. Quietly, he climbs down from his bed and tip-toes out of his room, he crosses the landing and slips through an open door into the office where the gun safe is kept. He takes out a pistol and loads it as silently as he can with his shaking fingers. 

Now armed, he makes his way down the hall to the stairs, he hears another shuffling sound downstairs and his nerves spike. The pistol in his right hand and his phone is in his left, he slowly creeps down the stairs, his eyes searching through the darkness ahead for the source of the noise. He freezes as he reaches the bottom step, finally able to see the figure in the dark ahead of him.

Now he’s really scared. There is a thief in his house, and he is home alone. He clutches the gun tightly in his hands and swallows. Ever so stealthily, he makes his way to the switch on the wall and holding the gun up in front of him with one hand he flicks on the overhead light with the other. 

“Don’t move!” he yells at the stranger. 

The would-be thief is holding a large canvas in front of him, and all Castiel can see for a moment is the back of the painting before, somewhat comically, a pair of eyes begin to appear over the top, the most striking pair of green eyes he has ever seen and their staring right back at him.

“Put that down,” Cas says, his voice shaking with fear, no matter how hard he’d tried to cover it.

Slowly, with his eyes never leaving Castiel’s gun, the thief puts the painting down against a chair, but it slides down steadily and ends up flat on the ground facing up, which allows Castiel to see which painting it is, his eyes widen as he realizes it’s his ‘Cherub and Psyche’. Even in the dark, he can tell that this is his own, by the frame. 

Cas is in the middle of dialing the police, but he freezes when he sees the painting. 

“Why did you choose _ that _ painting?” he asks with a concerned frown.

“Um, it was the handiest. Uh, look, don’t call the police, give me another chance,” the thief pleads unfairly using his big green eyes to show his desperation, as he slowly inches his way closer to Castiel, “You see, I was only taking one painting, and you have so many. Chances are you would never have missed it. Um, never mind, I’ll put it back,” he picks it up and hangs it back on the wall, “see, there we are. No harm done.”

Cas is staring at the man as though he has two heads, ‘_ No harm done? You broke into my home _,’ he thinks to himself and feeling a little angry, he fidgets with the gun aiming it right at the stranger. 

“How much would you have taken if no one was home tonight?” asks Castiel bitterly, keeping his thumb over the call button on his phone, “You’re lucky my brother…” he pauses suddenly looking even more alarmed as it dawns on him that maybe the thief hadn’t been ‘lucky’ at all, “Did you know my brother wasn’t going to be here?” 

“Um, it’s my business to know that sort of thing, Mr. Novak. If I frightened you, I’m sorry. I honestly, thought you would be attending the charity event with him tonight. Big social event like that, big family name such as yours,” he says, keeping his hands up by his head, he ducks around a chair trying to get out from in front of the gun being pointed at him, “Listen, you frightened me too, so we’re even, right? So... I’ll just go.” He backs away slowly. Cas’ eyes follow his movements, his hand raising the gun again to keep him in his sights.

“I bet that thing isn’t even loaded, is it?” the man asks incredulously, his overly lighthearted tone giving away his true nervousness.

“Oh, yes, it is.” Cas says as strongly as his fear will let him, he pales as another thought pops into his mind, “A-are you armed?” The man just stares at him for a moment. “Do you have a gun?” Cas asks more firmly. 

The man carefully opens his jacket to show him that he isn’t carrying a weapon, “No,” he steps closer, “See no weapons. I’m unarmed.”

Castiel nods, thinking. The man is unarmed, he’d put the painting down, and he’d said he would leave. Castiel was freaked out, but he had to reason to himself that he had more to fear and worry about from a police investigation than the unarmed, would-be thief. 

“O-okay, then. I’m - I’m going to let you go,” he says, but as he begins to lay the gun on the table, intending to allow the man to pass him safely, his finger gets caught on the trigger, and it goes off with a loud bang. Startled he drops it and dives for cover, hiding behind the wall. 

A few terrifying seconds pass by, and his heart beats painfully fast in his chest as he wonders if he’d just shot the thief… Gingerly, he peeks wide-eyed around the doorframe to see the man on the floor. ‘_ Oh, God! I killed him _ ’. He thinks to himself but then the man on the ground groans and rolls over. ‘ _ Phew! _’ Castiel slowly crawls closer to the man as the man sits up, gripping his arm. The man pulls his hand away, and there is blood on his palm. 

“You shot me!” the man exclaims looking at Castiel with shock written all over his face. 

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry. Let me see how bad it is.” Cas suddenly is no longer afraid of the man but wants to help him. 

Cas helps the man to his feet and leads him into the kitchen. He helps him with his jacket and shirt sleeve. The bullet had barely grazed his arm, leaving only a scrape about two inches long on his bicep. Cas pulls out a first aid kit and begins to wipe away the blood. The man hisses at him and complains.

“You’re not very tough for a burglar.” Cas teases.

“I’m a high society burglar, I’m not used to people shooting at me,” grouses the thief. 

“I’m not used to shooting at people, or being robbed,” the thief squirms as Castiel dabs at his wound with a wet cloth, “don’t be such a baby, it’s only a flesh wound.”

“Well, it just so happens to be _ my _ flesh that’s wounded, so can you be careful with that.”

“Hmph, you should expect some occupational hazards; after all, you did come here tonight to steal from me.” 

Ignoring him, the man looks at his arm and says, “A thing like this could keep me out of action for a week.” he pouts and looks up at Cas with his big green eyes. 

“Well then, temporarily you’ll have to go straight.” Cas grins, and the man grins back. “Look, it’s late, and I’m tired.” 

“Right,” says the man, slipping on his jacket he steps toward the door, but before he reaches the handle, he stops and turns back with a slight frown, “How am I getting home?”

“The same way you got here, I’d assume,” Cas answers, sounding a little bewildered. 

“But I’m injured... I can’t drive.” he takes hold of the banister, as though trying to get his point across by demonstrating how unbalanced he felt, “Oh, you know… I actually feel pretty weak; maybe it’s the shock and loss of blood.”

“Oh, dear,” Cas sighs, rolling his eyes slightly at the absurdity of him aiding the man who’d been trying to rob him, “I’ll call you a taxi. Is that alright?”

“That’s fine but what will happen in the morning if the police find my car outside your house? There could be all kinds of questions…” the man says slyly, and as he notices the look on Castiel’s face, he smiles and adds, “I’m really just thinking of you.”

“Fine,” says Castiel slapping his hands against his thighs in annoyance, “Then I will drive you home.” Grumbling Castiel slips on his shoes and grabs a jacket to put on over his t-shirt and pajama pants. 

They walk out of the house together, with Castiel making doubly sure to lock up behind him before walking down the driveway to the man’s car. He wonders what the hell he is doing, why is he helping this man who’d tried to rob him, why had he cleaned up his wound for him… Why on earth was he about to get into the man’s car and drive him home? The entire evening had left him feeling slightly fuzzy and confused. From the fear of someone being in his house to the adrenaline rush of shooting someone (even if it had been by accident) had made him feel off-balance and a little unsure of himself. 

He reaches the end of the driveway and eyes the fancy little, red convertible that the thief had stopped in front of, to dig in his pockets for the keys. 

“Wow. The burglary business must be going well.” Cas says trying not to sound too impressed, as he gets into the car.

“It’s stolen” the man smirks as he gets in the passenger side. 

Castiel’s face snaps to the side to look at the man, “What!? I can’t drive a stolen car!”

“Sure you can, it drives just like any other car. Put it in drive and press the accelerator.” the man chuckles. 

“Fine. Where am I taking you, Sir?” Cas snarks.

“To the Ritz Hotel.” 

Castiel’s jaw drops for a moment, before he shakes his head, “My, my. You are doing well, aren’t you?” 

Castiel glances at the man sitting in the passenger seat several times during the drive, each time he finds that the man is smiling back at him. There is something enticing about that confident smile. Castiel’s eyes flick quickly back to the road each time he is caught looking but he does take in new little details of the man’s face from every stolen glance, the freckles that are sprinkled over his cheeks, the green shine in his eyes when they are lit up by the street lights as the car passes beneath them, the way his smile reaches his eyes. ‘_ He is rather handsome _ ,’ Castiel thinks to himself, ‘ _ for a thief _.’ 

Cas pulls up to the hotel drop off and looks over with wide eyes at the thief sitting next to him in a stolen car that he just drove across town. Feeling somewhat ridiculous and not thinking clearly, he asks, “Now, how do I get home?” 

“Ah, hold on.” the man rolls down the window of the car and with two fingers in his mouth he whistles to the doorman, who hurries over to them and smiles nervously, “Will you please hail a cab for Mr. Novak?”

“Of course, Mr. Winchester.” replies the doorman as he steps out onto the street to flag down a passing cab.

“Thank you,” then turning back to look at Castiel, he realizes by the look on his face that he’d just heard his name, “Oh crap, now I’ve done it. Now you know my name,” he says looking directly into Cas’s eyes, “but I have a funny feeling, and that’s something rare in my profession, but I feel that you’re completely trustworthy.”

“You, I, um…” Cas stumbles over his words, unable to come up with anything to say as he closes the car door behind him and turns to walk toward the cab, that was now pulling up for him. 

“Hey, just a moment.” calls the thief - Mr. Winchester - stopping Cas just before he ducks into the cab, “Like an idiot, I wasn’t wearing any gloves at your house, do you mind wiping off the painting’s frame where I touched it when you get home?”

Cas stares at him, head tilted and eyes wide. He nods dumbly. Once again, struck by how handsome the man is and how beautifully green his eyes are, but then the absurdity of his request registers and Castiel can’t help but scoff out a laugh as he turns to face the man fully, “Oh, certainly. Would you like anything else? You don’t need some counterfeit money, or a forged passport or anything do you?” He asks incredulously. “You are absolutely crazy, aren’t you? I suppose the next thing you’ll be asking is to kiss me goodnight.”

“I don’t usually, not on the first acquaintance, but you’ve been such a good sport and now that you mention it...” Mr. Winchester steps forward and places a warm hand on the back of Cas’s neck, which sends a shiver through his body, as he is gently pulled in for a soft, perfectly dreamy kiss. Castiel can’t help himself, and his eyes slip shut. The feeling of the other man’s lips on his own becomes so mesmerizing that it chases away all rational thought and when, finally, Mr. Winchester pulls away, it leaves Castiel’s lips feeling tingly, and he can do nothing but stare, helplessly, into the other man’s eyes, utterly speechless. 

The man smiles at him as though he somehow knows he has just turned Castiel’s entire world upside down with a single kiss, “By the way, my name is Dean, it was nice to meet you Castiel.”

Cas was completely lost in thought for the ride home; his fingers drifted up to touch his lips absently from time to time, where the echo of _ that _ kiss still lingered hauntingly. Had that really just happened? Was he dreaming? He thinks back over everything that had occurred during the evening. It somehow seemed like he had met the thief, no, Dean, so long ago and yet, in reality, it had been only a couple of hours. 

Not long later, he is walking into his house and being greeted by Gabe, who is pouring himself a nightcap and excitedly begins telling Cas how well his evening went. 

“Gabe.” Cas tries to get his attention as he rattles on about who was there and with whom, “Gabe will you listen to me?” he tries again with no luck, “Gabe, I caught a burglar!” he says again, more forcefully this time. 

“Of course you did, good for you,” Gabe says, not really acknowledging what Cas said.

“Gabe will you listen, I caught a thief in our house tonight.” the look Castiel was giving Gabriel, made him stop in his tracks and frown slightly. 

“You what? Seriously? Tell me what happened.” Gabe finally pays attention to Cas. 

“Well, I was reading in bed, but I heard and noise and came to see who it was... it was dark, but there he was. Tall, green eyes, slim, quite good looking,” Cas catches Gabe staring at him like he has two heads and hurries on before he can say anything, “In a mean, brutal way, a terrible person of course. Arrogant, ruthless, no sense of guilt or shame, or …” Cas drifts off.

“So you talked about all that did you?” Gabe asks eyebrow raised. 

“Oh, that was later, when I was driving him home.”

Gabe chokes on his drink and gawks at Cas.

“I had to Gabe; I shot him in the arm with that pistol you keep upstairs. It was an accident… I think.”

“Okay, explain exactly what happened, you have me confused.”

“I was calling the police when I saw what he was stealing. The Seignac. MY Seignac! I didn’t know what to do. I thought that if he were arrested, I’d be in trouble for an attempted forgery or something.” 

“Of course, a police investigation would be inconvenient for everyone.” agreed Gabriel nodding as Castiel went on. 

“That’s what I thought, so I decided to let him go, but somehow the gun went off in my hand and grazed his arm… I cleaned him up and drove him home. I did right, didn’t I Gabe?”

“Yes, you did fine Cassie.”

“You should have seen how he was carrying on when I was dressing his wound. I wouldn’t have wanted him to get an infection, but he was a bit of a baby about it.” 

Gabriel does not miss the almost fond tone in his brother’s voice; he shakes his head “Yeah, okay, Cassie. Maybe you should get some sleep now? Sounds like you had an eventful night.”

“Good idea, night Gabe,” Cas mumbles as he walks over to the painting and begins to wipe down the frame to make sure there are no fingerprints... Gabe watching him closely with a slight frown knitting across his face. 

“Um, night, Cassie.”

“See you in the morning, Gabe,” Cas says as he turns around and heads past him toward the stairs. He takes off his jacket and lets it fall from his hand as though his brain had simply forgotten that he was meant to hold onto it. 

“Say, Cassie? This tall, green-eyed roughion, he didn't molest you in any way, did he?”

Cas stands still on the third step and looks straight ahead. 

“Well, did he?” Gabe reiterates. 

Cas turns to look at Gabe, shaking his head and softly answers, “Not much,” before heading up the rest of the stairs. Gabe just watches him go in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment or kudos if your enjoying this fic. Reader feedback is greatly appreciated.
> 
> ❤️❤️ Thank you ❤️❤️


	2. Chapter 2

Dean walks into his hotel room, scratching the back of his neck as he ponders the exchange he had just had with Castiel Novak. Castiel was definitely one of the richest men he’d ever been in the presence of. Sure, he’s been around wealthy people before but if he was honest with himself he usually found them a bit dull. He hadn’t felt like that with Castiel though, he’d never met anyone like Castiel, and he’d never kissed someone on the spot like that. He has no idea what came over him, other than the fact that the man is absolutely gorgeous and it was kind of adorable the way he had taken care of Dean after accidentally shooting him. 

‘ _ Oh, right, he shot me _ .’ Dean muses and touches the bandage on his arm. It had obviously been an accident but Dean would be lying if he said it hadn’t scared him, at the sound of the gun going off, there had been a split second where his breath caught in his throat and his heart clenched painfully in his chest. 

He shakes the memory from his mind, he has work to do and whilst getting shot at hadn’t been part of the description, he survived and now has a job to complete. He feels inside his inner jacket pocket for the small glass vial that contains the chip of paint he’d taken from the ‘Cherub and Psyche’ in the Novak’s house. 

He holds it up in front of his face looking at it closely, he is almost positive that he knows what he is going to see in the results of testing. The back of the canvas had given away several small clues, clues that the untrained eye might have missed, but not Dean. 

He sits at the desk, turning the table lamp on and pulling his small testing kit toward him. He begins to do a few simple tests on it, like checking the age of the paint. He sighs when the results indicate what he’d known since he first set eyes on the canvas, the painting is a fake, a convincing piece, indeed it may be one of the best frauds Dean has ever seen. Normally at this point, his reaction would be one of satisfaction on a job well done, but this time he can’t help but think about Castiel and how this is going to affect him and his family name. Dean couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, Castiel had been so likable, even though Dean had broken into his house and - as far as Castiel was concerned - trying to rob him, he’d still rushed to his aid when the gun had gone off. He’d still driven him home, he’d been pretty friendly. 

Dean taps his fingers on his desk for a moment before pulling his phone from his pocket and texting his partner, and brother, Sam, to let him know the news and suggest that they meet up the next day to discuss their next steps.

The following morning, Dean is sitting in Sam’s office at the gallery, sharing the information he learned about the ‘Cherub and Psyche’ painting being fake with his brother, who looks, decidedly unsurprised. 

Sam was striding back and forth across the room, listening intently as Dean had filled him in on his encounter with Castiel the previous evening (Carefully leaving out the part where he’d been shot, so as not to cause any worry). 

When Dean had finally finished, Sam turned to him excitedly, “This is great, Dean. You know that the head of The High Art’s Society has had suspicions about the Novak family for some time now. I mean both Gabriel and Castiel have studied painting since childhood, as had their parents. Although, while Gabriel has focused more on the business side of things, Castiel has gone more into the actual arts side of things, he’s said to have studied all the greats. Apparently, he can replicate anyone you put in front of him.”

“Yeah, but one thing I don’t understand is why Gabriel would buy the real Siegnac if his brother had created a forgery? Why bring that kind of attention to it? And why spend the money?” Dean asks frowning deeply.

“Perhaps they plan to sell the forgery?” Sam offers, with a slight shrug. 

“I don’t know. In all the years that the Novak family has been buying and selling art, they’ve never tried to sell a fake. You know that the people raising these ‘suspicions’ about them have never had any actual proof behind them and they are their ‘rivals’ in the ‘Art scene’ and just because that painting I found in their house wasn’t a print of the original, but a ‘copy’ of it… It doesn’t mean that they were going to do anything with it… Maybe Castiel painted it for the enjoyment of painting? I mean, honestly… Why try and sell something fake now... They’re already worth millions. Why would they risk all that now?” 

“I don’t know, Dean. All I know is that we have been hired to prove once and for all whether the paintings in the Novak collection are real or forgeries.” 

“Do you really think both brothers are in on a scam?” asked Dean, sounding slightly desperate. 

“Probably. Gabriel handles the business end and Castiel is the one doing the paintings.” 

Dean thinks about Castiel and how kind and caring and sweet he seemed. He’d hate for him to have to go to jail for being a forger, he’d hate it even worse if he ended up being the reason that happened, “Well, we can’t use the information I learned from the ‘Cherub and Psyche’ because I unlawfully broke into their home. Remember, Castiel caught me and thinks I’m a burglar.”

Sam scoffs and shakes his head, “But we can keep an eye on their showing today… If we suspect any of the paintings to be fakes, we can request to examine them before the specialist gets here.” 

“I still don’t understand why they chose now to create the fakes,” Dean says grumpily, his brother was not going to let this go… and he couldn’t really blame him. This is their job, it’s just that for Dean, meeting Castiel had made it unexplainably harder to want to do ‘the right thing’.

“Who knows, ego, vanity, wanting to hoodwink the whole world and having a wonderful time doing it. Dean, imagine Castiel as a young painter, he copies the masters to learn their secrets, their styles. He learns every nuance of light and color, of shade and form, until he identifies with them completely. When he paints a Van Gogh he is Van Gogh, when he paints Seignac he is Seignac. He can be any painter he chooses to be, and that is his motive. And also his profit, it’s the same kind of thing for Gabriel… no one would really expect someone so rich to bother trying to sell fakes, but that’s what makes it so perfect if he doesn’t get caught - it’s a thrill if he does… Pretty sure he can afford the fine. I don’t know why, but I just feel sure that we will find at least one of the paintings in their collection to be a fake.”

When their conversation is finished, Dean leaves Sam’s office feeling somewhat unsettled and walks around the gallery, trying to take his mind off it. He hopes that they don’t find a fake in the collection, that Castiel just paints because he enjoys it. For now, apart from worrying about what would happen to Castiel if Sam somehow spotted a forgery amongst the collection, Dean also had to worry about the fact that if he spotted one… he isn’t even sure he would tell his brother. It’s not as though not telling him would be the same as lying though, it’s more of an omittance. Frowning, Dean pauses in his step wondering why on earth he seems to care so much about a man he has only ever met once… 

And of course, that would be the moment he notices Castiel across the room. He has to do a double-take at first, as the smart dark suit that Castiel is wearing is cut perfectly to his figure. Dean’s lips part and his head tilts to the side slightly as his eyes roam down the back of the suit and then up the front again. The baggy pajama’s Castiel had been wearing the only last night, had made him look cute, cuddly even… but this suit made him look -there was no other word for it- HOT. 

Dean has been staring for almost a full minute before he realizes and begins walking towards Castiel, as though some invisible magnetic force is pulling him in that direction, a force he is helpless to resist. Each step closer seems to unlock the next level of Castiel’s attractiveness and Dean’s green eyes drink in his dark mess of hair, his smooth skin and his piercing blues. 

Castiel is wholly focused on ‘The Angel’s Heart’, which is hanging in the center of the wall, surrounded by several other paintings from the Novak’s collection. Castiel’s head is tilted to the side and he is wearing a thoughtful, almost worried expression on his face. He doesn’t seem to notice anyone or anything around him, entirely lost in thought, lost (it would seem) in the painting. Seeming to snap out of it suddenly, he shakes his head and turns to leave, bumping right into Dean with a shocked yelp.

“Oh! I’m so sorr…” he begins before he realizes who it is that he crashed into, his eyes widen, “You! What are you doing here?” Castiel follows Dean’s gaze and notices how he is looking at ‘The Angel’s Heart’ painting, he gasps, “Oh, no. No, you don’t...”

“Easy gorgeous. I’m off duty right now.” Dean smiles and with irritating charm, throws a cheeky wink at Cas.

Shaking his head, Cas notices the director of the gallery in the distance behind Dean and he grabs Dean’s hand trying to pull him into a different room. Dean grins broadly and allows Cas to move him. 

“What’s going on?” Dean asks in an overly dramatic hushed tone, looking about him as though expecting to see someone chasing them. 

“Mr. Dermont, he’s the director of the gallery,” says Castiel by way of explanation, “I don’t think we need to have a run in with him. What with you being here to… what do you call it? ‘Case the joint’?”

“Yeah, that’s what they call it in the movies,” Dean chuckles, “And hey, I’m flattered that you’re trying to protect me…” Dean can’t help the flirty smirk that lights up his face, “I didn’t know you cared.” 

“I… I don’t.” said Castiel fumbling for what to say. 

“Oh? You’ve not missed me then? Just came by to visit your paintings, hmm?” 

Castiel frowns at him in confusion, which reminds Dean that he couldn’t have known he’d be here. He didn’t come to see Dean… So what was Castiel doing here? 

“I suppose there is no need to ask what  _ you  _ are doing here?” says Castiel snarkily, “I thought you were meant to be ‘out of action’ for a week or so?” 

Dean actually laughs at that, “Yeah, well… as long as I don’t do any heavy lifting I should be fine… ‘Casing a joint’ isn’t usually this exciting but now that you’re here…” Dean wiggles his eyebrows at Castiel unable to resist flirting with the man. 

“Oh, you’re intolerable.” Castiel tries not to grin at the man, “Is flirting with everyone part of what thrills you about what you do?”

“I don’t flirt with  _ everyone _ …” Dean says pointedly, “And I’d stop immediately if I thought it was actually bothering you. It just so happens though,” Dean leans in slightly, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he nears Castiel, “that I think you kinda like it.” 

“I think it’s time for me to go.” Castiel blushes and turns to walk away from Dean. “Please try and stay out of trouble today.” 

“Again Cas, it’s nice to know you care.” smiles Dean. 

Castiel huffs and leaves Dean standing in the middle of the gallery. 

*******

The next evening, Cas is getting dressed to go out when Gabe knocks on his door. 

“Wow, you’re all dressed up. Got a hot date?” Gabe asks.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. With a nice man that I met who happens to be interested in me and not my money.” 

“Really, what’s his name?”

“Mick Davies. He’s English and quite distinguished.” Castiel had been trying to think of a way to get ‘The Angel’s Heart’ back, when he’d bumped into a very handsome man outside the gallery. He’d still been feeling slightly flustered from his run-in with Dean Winchester, when he’d met Mick Davies and somehow ended up agreeing to a date with the man. It was rather unlike him and he’d changed his outfit twice already before Gabriel had knocked on his door. 

“Mick Davies? Really?” asked Gabe sounding impressed. 

“Yes… Why? Do you know him?”

“No, I’ve never met him but I sure would like to. He is one of the most renowned art collectors in the UK. He has even purchased a couple of paintings from our collection over the years.”

Castiel frowned, “Wait. What? He told me he wasn’t that involved in art. That he thought it was interesting that our family was in the business and that I painted but…” Cas looks at Gabe. “He’s playing me. But why? What does he want? What does he know?” He paces the room, with one last angry look at his brother, Castiel walks through the door, calling over his shoulder, “I’m going to find out tonight what this Mick is up to!”

***

At the restaurant, Castiel is cordial to Mick, trying to be as nice as possible while attempting to find out what the man wants, “Marvelous dinner, Mick and a lovely wine, how did you know how to choose it?”

“Oh, I own a vineyard,” Mick answers casually. Cas laughs nervously and takes a drink.

“Well, that’s nice.” Cas says unsure of what else to say.

“Castiel, I’ve enjoyed dinner tonight as well. I’m so glad you agreed to come out with me. You’re a joy to talk with.” Mick moves slightly closer and puts his hand on Castiel’s knee. 

“Thank you, Mick, I just wish it didn’t feel like there was a topic you were trying to avoid.”

Mick sits back and removes his hand, sighing. 

“There is something else you want to say, isn’t there?” Cas asks meeting Mick’s eyes with a brow raised. 

“Well, yes. I hate to say this but…” 

The waiter steps up to the table and pours them each a coffee, causing Mick to pause for a moment.

“Yes?” Cas urges him to go on, once the waiter has moved away.

“Well, it has to do with your brother and the Novak collection.”

“Oh?” Cas asks worriedly, his heart rate increasing slightly as he waits for Mick to finish.

Suddenly the hostess is at their table and Castiel has to resist the urge to ask them to go away, he isn’t sure how much longer his nerves can hold out. The last few days have had him teetering on the edge as it is. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Davies sorry to interrupt but you have a visitor at the front. If you will follow me, please?”

Mick frowns as he excuses himself to follow the hostess and Castiel sags back into his seat, as he watches him walking away, feeling annoyed. 

The next thing Cas knows, Dean is scooting into his booth, looking smug. 

Castiel stares at him in shock, “Dean!? What are  _ you _ doing here? My date will be very upset to see you sitting here. Wait, did you have him called away? How dare you!?”

“Shhh. Calm down gorgeous, you’re going to make a scene. Now just give me a moment. I’ve got something very important I need to talk to you about.” Dean states glancing around to check that Castiel’s date isn’t returning before his eyes finally land on Castiel’s face, he smiles, “Wow, you look really nice by the way… did ‘your date’ tell you that?” 

“Oh, how I’d like to take another shot at you right about now,” says Castiel, feeling slightly warm suddenly under Dean’s now unwavering attention whilst and at the same time, recalling with annoyance that Mick had not complimented him on his suit or appearance. Not that Castiel needs flattery but he had made a considerable effort with his outfit tonight and it would have been nice if the man who he’d agreed to go on a date with had noticed, rather than the rogue burglar who now seemed to keep popping up all over the place. 

Dean smiles fondly, before looking over his shoulder, just in time to see Cas’s date returning. “Okay, I’ll go. Just tell me where and when we can meet?”

“Leave now or I’ll start shouting.” warns Castiel. 

“Fine. But trust me when I tell you, you are going to want to hear this, so come find me. Dean Winchester, the Ritz room 322. It’s important, Cas.” and with that Dean takes his leave.

Mick rounds the corner and sits back down next to Cas, “Now, where were we?”

Cas stares blankly at the man for a moment before he remembers where their previous conversation had left off, “With my family’s collection.”

“Oh yes. I - I hate to tell you this, Castiel. But I must confess, I arranged our meeting.”

“Why?” Cas asks, honestly a little relieved that they were finally getting to the point. 

“It's this ridiculous obsession, it devours me. From the moment I first laid eyes on it I was lost, helpless, I just had to have it.”

“Have what? What are you talking about?”

“Why, the most beautiful painting I’ve ever laid eyes on. The Angel’s Heart, of course,” Mick looks guiltily at Castiel before continuing, “When I found out that your brother wouldn’t sell, I arranged to meet you. To somehow get to the Angel.”

“Oh,” Cas laughs, feeling relief pump through him, “You dear man. The Angel’s Heart isn’t for sale. Believe me, if she were mine, she’d be on your doorstep in the morning but she’s a family heirloom, she will never be for sale” Giddy from exhilaration he leans forward and quickly kisses Mick on the lips. “There, your consolation prize.” He kisses him again, once on each cheek. “For emphasis.” Cas chuckles and smiles at Mick.

Mick just stutters and smiles back at him. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Cas comes down the stairs happily to greet Gabe. 

“I have news.” he smiles at Gabe, “Mick cooked up that whole plot to meet me just to get to you. He wants to buy 'The Angel’s Heart'. And it will never be for sale, isn’t that wonderful? We have nothing to worry about.”

At that moment there is a knock at the door. Gabriel walks over to answer it and finds a representative from the gallery, Mr. Kipling, waiting on the other side. Standing back to let the man in, Gabriel gives him a welcoming smile as he passes.

Castiel notices that Mr. Kipling has a file of papers tucked carefully under his arm as he goes on excitedly about what a privilege it is for the gallery to be able to display the Novak’s collection. He thanks Gabriel and Castiel repeatedly, gushing about what a huge honor it is to him personally to be able to be in charge of organizing the showing, before finally opening the file he is carrying and asking Gabe to sign some paperwork for the insurance on the items being loaned. 

Gabriel being Gabriel ignores Castiel’s warning looks and signs the papers without reading them as he assumes it's a simple formality. It’s only after Mr. Kipling has neatly slipped the papers back into his file that he tells them about the authenticity tests that will be done on all the paintings that are on loan, within the next few days. Castiel’s eyes close in horror and the color drains from Gabriel’s face. 

“Tests? On all the paintings?” Gabe almost chokes on his words.

“Surely you don’t need to do tests on all the paintings, do you?” Cas asks trying to help.

“Of course, we have a specialist flying in to take care of the tests, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. Mr. and Mr. Novak. There will be no cost to you. It is all part of the normal procedure.” Mr. Kipling tries to reassure them. The brothers smile weakly at him, as he walks toward the door. 

After the man leaves, Cas tries his best to remain calm and comfort Gabe, “Maybe they will do ‘The Angel’s Heart’ last and we’ll have time to… I don’t know… get it back somehow before they finish?” 

“We can’t get it back, not until the showing is finished.” Gabe says scratching his neck and sounding defeated, “If they find out about that painting, then our whole collection will be in question. Our lives will be ruined. Everything we have will be subject to tests and suspicion. All the work we do for charity will be scrutinized.” 

Castiel had warned Gabriel that this could happen and he can’t help but feel angry that it is, it’s both of their reputations on the line now, not to mention their grandfather's name.

“Well, I hate to say I told you so… But I TOLD YOU SO!” Castiel glares at his brother, then sags with worry, “Gabriel, why? Why did you have to loan them THAT painting? Oh God, what are we going to do?” Cas pace’s across the room thinking. “We have to keep that specialist from examining ‘The Angel’s Heart’.”

“Oh hell, let them come, let them all come. I’ve had a good life.” Gabe pouts, flopping down on the couch.

Cas looks up at the ‘Cherub and Psyche’ and it's as though a cartoon lightbulb flashes above his head, the idea hits him so strongly. A chance, a chance to save themselves… Excitedly, he turns to his brother, “I’ll be back. I’m going to the Ritz!”

Gabe looks up in surprise as Cas leaves. “What? Now!? The Ritz again?”

***

Dean walks into the hotel lounge and scans the room, looking for Castiel who was supposed to meet him for drinks. He walks past a table with a single male sitting there dressed in a three-piece suit. Doing a double-take, he turns back to look and recognizes Cas. 

Cas smirks and motions with his head for Dean to join him. Dean sits across from him in a half-round booth. Dean takes a moment to admire the cut and color of Castiel’s suit, damn he looked good.

“Good afternoon gorgeous, I was surprised to hear from you. Pleased, but surprised. So, what can I do for you... Mr. No-”

“Shh, no names.” Cas hushes him, glancing around to make sure no one was paying them any attention.

“Well if you say so but if this is such a private conversation, I happen to have a bottle of scotch in my room,” says Dean suggestively. 

“This, my good man, is a business meeting.” Cas corrects him with a raised brow. 

“Ah, very well on to business then.” Dean nods.

Castiel leans in towards Dean and says in a hushed tone, “I find that I have a need for someone with your specific talents and experience. Are you interested in a big-time caper?”

“A what?” Frowns Dean, inching closer still so he can hear better. He gets a whiff of Castiel’s aftershave, the man doesn’t just look good, he smells good, too. 

“A heist,” hisses Castiel. 

“Oh, you mean a burglary!” Dean clarifies as he scoots even closer to Castiel, only stopping when he’s right next to him. “What’s the score, baby?” he asks just above a whisper and in a comically fake gangster accent.

“It won’t be easy,” Cas says dramatically.

“That’s okay, what’s the job? I’m in.” Dean answers confidently.

“The Claborn Art Gallery.” Cas whispers.

“I’m out.” Dean says, moving further away from Cas again and looking at him incredulously, “Why that particular spot, may I ask?”

Cas looks around before leaning in close to Dean, “The Angel’s Heart.” he whispers. 

“Your!” Dean almost shouts, then lowers his voice quickly as he remembers himself, “Your Angel’s Heart?”

“Well, it's not mine exactly, it sort of in the family. But that’s not important.” 

“You - you want to steal it?” Dean asks surprised. Cas nods. “Why? Is it a publicity stunt?”

“No. It's quite expensive, it’s worth a million dollars.” Cas whispers meeting Dean’s eyes with a pleading expression.

“I know and it's also surrounded by about a million police officers and guards. That’s about one dollar per guard and I don’t like the rate of exchange.” 

“You mean you won’t do it?” Cas asks sadly.

“No, I’m sorry, but thank you for thinking of me, I’m flattered” Dean smirks as he takes a sip of his whiskey but then he looks at Castiel out of the corner of his eye, noting the disappointed expression on his face.

“Oh, ok.” Cas frowns as he moves to get up. “Excuse me, I have to go.”

“Wait, you’re not really serious, are you? You’ve seen the way that painting is protected. The motion sensors, the guards.”

“I was hoping to leave those details to you. You’re the expert.” Cas looks up at him through his lashes with those stunning blue eyes, a totally unfair move as far as Dean is concerned.

“Well, um, I’ll sleep on it. It’s too late now, the gallery is closed. We’ll go around in the morning and look at the surroundings. Or as you put it ‘case the joint’.”

Beaming, Castiel reaches out to shake Dean’s hand and Dean takes it, shaking firmly. 

“You know, It’s still early, why don’t I show you around the real New York?” Dean asks keeping hold of Cas’s hand and shifting closer again.

“Um, I live here. I was born in New York.” Cas shifts away from Dean.

“Oh well in that case, how about you show me the real New York?” Dean wiggles his eyebrows at Castiel.

Cas gently shoves Dean over and gets a stern look on his face, ”Where and what time tomorrow?”

“Oh, yes, well… I find that a job like this is best planned when everyone is relaxed. So why don’t we meet and have a nice long cozy lunch -”

Cas rolls his eyes and moves to leave. Dean grabs his arm lightly, stopping him in his tracks.

“Coffee at the little cafe on the corner two blocks from the gallery, you know ‘The Roadhouse’? Ten am. Right?”

“Right. See you there,” Cas answers and stands, turning quickly to leave the lounge, the feel of Dean’s warm hand still soaking into his skin through the sleeve of his suit. 

Dean peeks over the potted plants between booths and watches as Cas leaves, feeling even more intrigued by the man now. Dean smiles to himself, Castiel Novak is quite the mystery. 

***

The next morning they met for coffee, at ‘The Roadhouse’ cafe. When Dean walked through the doors at bang on ten o’clock, he was surprised to find Castiel waiting, he was already seated and had two coffees in front of him. He looked up as Dean approached and pushed one of the cups toward him. 

Dean tried to fight a pleased smile, “For me? Aw, you shouldn’t have…”

Castiel rolls his eyes, “Don’t make it into a ‘thing’ or it will be the last cup of coffee I ever buy you.” 

Dean chuckles as he sits across from him, “Alright then, I won’t make the fact that you bought me coffee into a ‘thing’, wouldn’t want us to get into a fight on our first date.”

“This is not a date!” hisses Castiel folding his arms over his chest and sitting back in his seat, but even as he says it, he looks up at Dean and wonders, if Dean is teasing him his persistent flirting or if he really means it? Would that be so bad, if Dean actually liked him? Castiel frowns as he watches Dean rip open a sachet of sugar and pour it into his drink. He shakes his head, sure Dean is charming and handsome… But he is also a thief. A criminal, Castiel reminds himself. He and Gabriel are in enough trouble already, without adding a crush on a criminal into the mix. 

When Castiel looks up again, he finds Dean watching him, his head tilted slightly to the side as though he is trying to figure him out. 

“What?” he says suddenly feeling self-conscious. 

Dean smiles, “You’re cute when you pout.”

Castiel glares at him, “I do not... Pout.” 

Dean’s smile widens. 

“Look, can we get down to business, please?” 

“Fair enough… Ok, so… If we’re going to do this. I want to know what’s in it for me?” 

Castiel blinks dumbly back at him and Dean has to fight to keep a serious expression on his face. 

“Well? What’s in it for me? This is a big job Castiel, lots of risk in it, not to mention that you won’t even tell me why you want to steal a piece of art that belongs to you in the first place!”

Castiel wraps his hands around his cup, feeling the heat of the drink warming his fingers, he sighs, “How much?” 

“How much what?” says Dean

“How much do you want?” says Castiel looking up and meeting Dean’s eyes. 

Dean blows out a long breath, “Well, you said the painting is worth a million bucks, right? But I assume that as you own it, you won’t be selling it, which means either you’re expecting me to find a buyer… or you’re just going to keep it. Then there is the insurance value of the piece… Man, it’s hard to estimate a figure…”

“You could remember, that you do in fact ‘owe me one’,” piped up Castiel suddenly, “I didn’t call the police when I found you in my house in the middle of the night, I even wiped the frame for fingerprints as you requested…” 

Dean smiles, “Really? Well, that’s good to know, thank you for doing that. You’re right, I do owe you… So, I tell you what… I will do the job and I won’t ask you for a cent.” 

Castiel frowns. 

“I just want…” Dean pauses, thinking, “I just want you to stop acting as though you hate that you’re working with me… When we both know, you’re having the time of your life.” 

Castiel looks a little shocked by Dean’s request… and then ashamed. He looks down at the table for a moment, trying to work out what to say as he thinks everything over. 

“My apologies… I have treated you rather poorly, haven’t I?” 

Dean smiles warmly, “Except for the coffee…” 

“No, really. Forgive me for saying this, but I rather thought then that you were going to ask to…” Castiel blinked, frowning, “to kiss me again.” Why had he felt slightly disappointed when Dean hadn’t asked that? 

Dean shook his head, “Even I know that’s going too far…” he caught Castiel’s gaze and held it as he said softly, “You’d be vastly overpaying.” 

Dean watched in awe at the blush that spread over Castiel’s face, that, right there, was all the ‘payment’ he needed. 

***

After finishing their cups of coffee, they leave, Dean jokingly offers Castiel his arm as they exit but Cas shakes his head at him and they walk with a respectful distance between them to the gallery. Barely speaking on their journey, Castiel glances sideways at Dean but looks away quickly when Dean glances back at him. Why is there such a nervous tension between them? 

They arrive at the gallery and Dean turns to Castiel just outside the doors, he looks into his eyes, “We’re not doing anything wrong right now, Cas. You got me? We’re just going in and looking at some art…” He smirks, cocking his head, “together.” 

“Dean-” Castiel begins in a warning tone, but Dean holds up his hand stopping him. 

“Seriously, you have to wipe off your nerves at the door... because looking guilty, will draw attention to us and we don’t want that, right?”

Castiel nods, “We’re not doing anything wrong…yet.” 

Dean and Cas walk into the gallery, they watch the crowds and guards as they move around the room pretending to be interested in all the paintings. Dean notices a broom closet under the stairs and silently points it out to Castiel. He makes a mental note of the guards changing stations and the location of the security office. As he watches the guards move about, he has an idea and motions for Cas to wait for him, Castiel stands back, swallowing down his nerves and trying to look natural as he watches Dean walk away from him. 

Dean waits for a guard to go into the office then straightens his jacket and follows the man in. 

“Hey, you can’t come in here.” one of the guards says, looking shocked by Dean’s sudden appearance.

Dean flashes his wallet quickly, as though he has a badge, “Van Meter, with the department of tourism. Just look at my sleeve, and that’s just from brushing against the woodwork. How often do you have this place cleaned? Once a month?”

“No, sir. We have a cleaning crew every night from midnight to four am.” The guard answers, puffing out his chest a little with clear pride.

“Yes, well, make sure that they are doing their jobs properly or I’ll file a report.” Dean turns quickly to a second door that he notices and makes to leave. The door leads to a staircase that goes down to another exit of the gallery.

“Oh sir, wrong door, it’s this way.” the guard kindly shows him to the proper exit and holds the door open as Dean passes through.

“Thank you very much,” says Dean giving the guard a nod. He turns away from the guard and lets out a breath of relief at not being questioned too closely.

Dean grins when he returns to Castiel, having obtained useful information about when the cleaning crew would be in the building. As Dean and Castiel leave the gallery together, Dean looks at Cas. 

“Don’t you think it's a bit presumptuous to start with a million-dollar robbery? I know a small gallery that we can knock over to, you know, get our feet wet. Gain a little confidence before taking on such a big heist.”

Cas shakes his head looking sadly down at the pavement.

“No good?” Dean asks, watching him closely.

“No good at all,” Cas answers meeting Dean’s eyes with a sorrowful expression. 

“Okay, next question. Why must it be this particular piece of art?”

“Well, you don’t think I’d steal something that didn’t belong to me, do you?” Castiel answers looking aghast and staring at Dean with wide eyes. 

Dean stares right back, into Cas’s big blue eyes, stunned by his answer, “Oh, excuse me. I spoke without thinking.” He rubs his forehead, “Look, why not wait until the painting is back home. Then you can steal it. No-fuss, no muss, no problems.”

“I’ve told you. This isn’t a prank or a whim, this is something I must do, because… because I must do it! Oh, never mind. I know I’m not making any sense.” Castiel drops his head into his hands and shakes his head in defeat.

They stroll through a park near the gallery and Dean starts to discuss some details about their upcoming job.

“Let’s look at the facts,” Dean begins, “we can’t get past the alarm, that’s out. We can’t tamper with the alarm, that’s out. We can’t bribe a guard because we don’t know who to bribe -”

“That’s out. Wow, some burglar you are.” Cas rolls his eyes at Dean, who scowls but keeps walking. 

Dean notices a man selling boomerangs to kids nearby and watches as the little toy flies in a big circle and comes back. Cas doesn’t notice Dean stop at first, but when he does he stops too and turns to see what Dean’s looking at. He follows Dean’s gaze and raises an eyebrow when he sees the man throwing boomerangs over a group of kids to show them how they work. 

“Look,” says Castiel suddenly feeling impatient, “if you’re a good boy, not only will I buy you a boomerang, but I’ll buy you a cowboy outfit and a toy train.” Dean ignores him as he watches the man with the flying toys, in fact, it isn’t as though Dean ignores him, it’s as though he is so deep in thought, he doesn’t even hear him.

“What we need is for at the precise moment, the alarm system is turned off. But we don’t know which guard has the key.” Dean mumbles as he watches the man fling the toy into the sky again and skillfully catch it upon its return. 

Dean suddenly walks over to the man and to Castiel’s amazement, buys two boomerangs. Castiel just frowns, slightly puzzled. Dean walks back over to him and inclines his head and they fall into step together and walk further into the park. Dean finds a large enough space to practice with the toy and begins throwing it into the air, Castiel only just ducking out of the way in surprise the first time. 

It only takes Dean a few times to figure out just how to throw the toy to have it come back to him, but he practices until he is able to get it to circle and come back just how he wants it. 

“These really are fun. You should try it, Cas.” Dean offers one of the toys to Castiel. 

“No thanks. Are you done playing with your toys? Can we get back to business?”

“Yeah, come on.” Dean agrees and he puts the toy away and takes Castiel’s arm, leading him back to his car.

“Where are we going now?” Cas asks.

“My hotel.” Dean answers.

“I’d like to remind you, sir. Ours is a business relationship.”

“I’m aware of that, Mr. Novak.” Dean puts on an overly formal voice as he speaks to Cas, “I’m also aware of the social gap between us. You are a socialite and I am a humble thief.” He smirks as they get into his car.

Cas scoffs, “There’s nothing humble about you Mr. Winchester.” He can’t help the small smile gracing his face. 

Dean gives him a fake affronted look and holds his hand over his heart as he says, “You wound me.” 

They arrive at the hotel, after Dean had made a mystery stop at a local charity shop - refusing to show Castiel what he’d purchased, go up to Dean’s room and Castiel does his best to ignore the butterflies flapping wildly in his stomach. 

“Alright, here we are. Now, go into the bathroom and take off your clothes.” Dean holds out a bag toward Cas.

The butterflies in Castiel’s stomach all swoop dramatically and he turns to face Dean with uncertainty on his face, “Are we planning the same sort of crime?”

“Oh please, it’s dress rehearsal time, that’s why we bought all this junk. Now go in there and put these on.”

Castiel takes the bag from him, his eyes darting up to meet Dean’s as their fingers touch momentarily. Breaking eye contact, Castiel turns quickly away and marches off to the bathroom, leaving Dean standing in the living room with a smirk across his face, he had caught the tinge of pink blush on Castiel’s face before he’d turned away from him. 

A few minutes later and Cas comes out of the bathroom looking like a petulant child being made to wear clothes he hates. He has on old jeans, a t-shirt with a flannel over it. He buttoned up the flannel and tucked it all in. 

“That’s no good,” Dean cocks his head to the side looking at Castiel. He motions for Cas to come closer and he does, shuffling his feet with a frown on his face. Dean looks directly into Castiel’s eyes as he pulls at the man's clothing. Castiel’s breath catches as Dean untucks his shirts and unbuttons the flannel, “There, now you look like you could work for a cleaning company.” 

“I what?” swallowing down the indescribable feeling that Dean’s fingers ghosting over his stomach had inflicted on him, Cas looks down at himself. “Wait, do you have a plan?!”

“The cleaning crew comes in at midnight. You will be there and will pretend to be part of the crew. Then you have the perfect chance to steal the painting.” replies Dean. Casually kicking off his shoes and sitting back in an armchair. 

“Hey, what about you? What will you be doing?” Cas asks with great interest.

“Me? Well, I will be sleeping soundly in that bed over there.” Dean answers firmly and points to his bed. 

“Oh, so after everything, you’re not going to help me?” Cas looks down at his shoes feeling as though his heart might break, “Why?”

“Why? You ask me why? Well, I ask you why... Why are we breaking into a heavily guarded gallery to steal a painting that belongs to you?” Dean glares at Cas.

“I’ve told you. Well, I’ve told you why I can’t tell you.” Castiel tries hard not to pout, feeling a wave of nausea threatening, he had thought Dean had a plan, he’d thought there was a chance for him and Gabriel. 

“Not good enough.”

Cas nods and tears well up in his eyes, he couldn’t do this without Dean, he and Gabriel were done for, “You’re right. In your place, I’d feel the same way. I’m in awful trouble but it’s got nothing to do with you. I can’t even explain it to you, it’s not fair to ask you to risk so much for me... So I’ll … I’ll get out of these clothes…” He sniffs as he heads to the bathroom.

“Oh, don’t you dare cry. Crying won’t get you anything,” says Dean. 

“I’m not, I have something in my eye.” Castiel wipes at his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“There’s nothing wrong with your eye. You’re crying, you’re trying to soften me up. It won’t work,” Dean stands up and glares at Castiel crossing his arms over his chest, “I’m too tough.”

“I know,” Cas sniffs and turns away, “I’m going.”

“Good. Go.” Dean barks at Cas’s back. Cas’s shoulders shudder as he opens the bathroom door. “And meet me at the gallery at seven-thirty sharp.” He growls at Cas. 

Cas turns looking at Dean all wide eyes and disbelief on his face, as he takes in Dean's expression a slow smile began to spread over his face.

“And don’t ask me why, or I’ll hit you with a pillow,” says Dean, grabbing the nearest pillow and waving it jokingly at Castiel.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean watches as Castiel leaves his hotel room, now re-dressed in his own smart suit. He pours himself a scotch and sits down on his bed resting back against the headboard. 

“What am I getting myself into?” He asks the silence of the room. 

He thinks back to the first night he laid eyes on Castiel Novak. It was supposed to have been a simple in and out; get into the house and check a couple of the works of art quickly to see if they appeared authentic, and get out undetected… Of course, that bit hadn’t quite gone to plan. He hadn’t intended for Sam to even find out about his little side experiment, wanting to avoid that bitch-face death-stare that his brother hits him with whenever he does something that Sam doesn’t approve of. Dean just wanted to go and see for himself and he probably would have been alright if he hadn’t stumbled into that stupid chair. 

He hadn’t just decided on a whim to go either, he had done his research, (amusing himself with the thought that Sam would have been impressed with him for that at least) he’d picked that night because both Novak brothers had been invited to the charity event, Castiel wasn’t supposed to be at home. He wondered, for what could easily be the dozenth time... why Castiel hadn’t gone to the party? 

Dean rubs his fingers gently over where a bandage still overs the cut on his upper arm. Dean smiles as he recalls that Castiel had seemed more frightened when the gun went off than he had. He chuckles to himself as he remembers the man crawling across the floor toward him, looking stricken at the sight of blood on Dean’s arm. It doesn’t really hurt anymore but he doesn’t want to chance getting an infection. He hopes that by keeping it medicated and bandaged, the gunshot, mild as it was, won't scar too badly. 

Visions of blue eyes play across Dean’s mind, taking him back to when he had first looked over the edge of the ‘Cherub and Psyche’ painting, the first thing he had seen, well the first thing after the comical shock of black and yellow bumblebee pajama pants, were those big round blue eyes shining in the harsh glare of the bright overhead light. He’d never seen eyes that particular shade of blue before, he truly doubts that anyone else alive has eyes as beautiful as Castiel Novak’s. 

The care that Castiel had shown him after accidentally shooting him was truly endearing. He can’t actually believe how lucky he was, how many other people would have stopped to talk to some stranger, who’d broken into their house in the middle of the night? Castiel had been afraid, but he’d faced his fear, he had been firm but he had also been kind, he had injured Dean, but he’d cared for him too… Dean couldn’t help but feel that Castiel had something so rare and special inside him and it was part of what made Dean want to help him because he was such a gentle and genuine person. Dean had known that night that… that, what? They could be friends? Maybe, but that’s not quite the feeling that he had. From the moment that Cas had touched his arm with those long slender fingers, Dean had wanted to kiss the man. 

He remembers that stolen kiss after Castiel had driven him back to the hotel. If he’d only have known that he’d be seeing him again, and soon. He would have waited. He would have done it properly, not on the back of some half-joke Castiel made. He would have pulled Castiel in close to him, brushed his thumb over the man’s cheek to make his eyes close and then… 

Dean shakes his head as if that would clear the thoughts away, this was so not the time to be getting distracted. He decides it’s time to call his brother.

\-------------------

Just as Cas is rushing out to meet Dean, there is a knock at the door. He opens the door to find Mick standing there, dressed in a fine tailored suit looking quite suave. 

“Hello Castiel, it’s so good to see you. I’ve been rehearsing what I want to say to you and now that I’m here it all seems so… right, so perfect.” From behind his back, he brings a bottle of champagne and then hands a bewildered Castiel a small velvet box. Cas frowns slightly as he opens it, his eyes widening as they fall on the gold banded ring inside. 

“W-what’s this?” Cas asks, confused and stunned to see Mick, not to mention a little put out as he wasn’t expecting the man to turn up unannounced.

“I’m a man of action. I once bought out an entire company on a whim. Best investment in my career.” Mick boasts, as he takes the box back from Castiel and pulls the ring from it. He slips the box into his pocket and takes Castiel’s hand in his sliding the ring on to Castiel’s finger- completely missing the wild look of panic in Cas’ face. 

“B-b-but I’m not a company to be bought.” stutters Castiel. 

“No, but you are the man for me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you kissed me. I’ve never felt a spark like that before. I think we would be great together, I think we should get married in Europe. What do you say?” 

“Europe, um, yes, I mean no. I mean you’ve got me all twisted. I don’t know what’s happening here. I’m not getting married to a man I hardly know,” says Castiel, feeling tongue-tied from the shock of what was unfolding. 

“You’re the guy for me and we’re going to get married. You’ll get to know me. Oh, the kiss...” Mick takes Castiel into a tight embrace and kisses him passionately. Cas is confused by the whole exchange, staring dumbfoundedly at Mick as the man presses their lips together with over the top excitement, it feels all wrong. Mick’s lips are not as soft as Cas would like, in fact, they feel slightly rough against his own. Then the cologne that Mick is wearing hits him it is so overpowering that it takes Castiel’s breath away and makes his eyes sting. As Mick begins to pull away, Castiel looks at his watch and notices he is running late to meet Dean. 

“Oh my...” he says, when Mick lets him go, looking thoroughly ruffled “I- I have to run, I’m late.”

Mick’s eyes widen as Cas pulls him out the door of the front door and leads him back to his car. 

“We’ll be great together Castiel,” says Mick breathlessly, “We could travel the whole world together… I’ll show you anything you want to see, take you anywhere you want to go…” 

“That’s nice…” says Castiel awkwardly, “I’ll, um, I’ll be in touch, Mick. But I’m late for a very important appointment right now. Bye.” He leaves Mick standing beside his car and looking as confused as he feels and jumps into his own car, tearing out of the driveway in a rush. He can’t decide what he is more relieved about, being on his way to meet Dean, or putting some much-needed distance between himself and Mick Davies.

***

Dean is standing alone at the gallery entrance, looking slightly nervous when Cas arrives. 

“Where have you been?” Dean asks looking at Cas with wide eyes.

“I was getting engaged,” Cas answers as he walks past Dean into the gallery. “Come on.” 

Dean stares after Cas like he’s lost his marbles, ‘Engaged?’ 

“Good grief, Mick showed up out of the blue just as I was leaving, and I didn’t want to make you wait so I ended up getting engaged to him, alright? Am I on time?”

“Fine. In fact, we have about ten more minutes if you’d like to go ahead and get married while I wait.” Dean replies sassily. 

Cas takes Dean by the arm, “Oh come on,” he laughs as they go inside the gallery. 

***

Once inside, Dean gets Cas to check the bag, containing his change of clothes into the cloakroom just inside the door. He had explained to Castiel some of what would happen earlier so he was prepared for this.

They look around the gallery together for a little while before Dean stealthily sneaks behind a velvet rope barrier by the stairs and unlocks the broom closet he’d noticed on their last visit. He had seen where the guard hung the key, and he insured their safety by putting a small strip of tape over the bolt so that the door to the closet would close but not lock back in place. 

They then continue to stroll about the gallery, pretending to be interested in the art pieces hung around the rooms, but in fact, they were observing the guard's movements. Dean checking repeatedly that nothing unusual was happening and that the key was still hanging on a little hook on the wall, near the closet... 

“How are we going to get past the alarm?” Cas asks in a hushed voice. 

“We will be depending on normal human reaction.” Dean tells him, “The nice thing about complicated electronics is that if they go haywire…” Dean pauses as he notices a guard heading in their direction, he looks closely at the nearest painting to them, pointing to it as if it were of utmost interest to him whilst waiting for the guard to walk past and out of ear-shot. 

Cas stares at him with wide eyes, ”Well, what comes after haywire?” He whispers.

“People in charge,” Dean continues, “tend to panic and run around in confused circles, and at that moment we strike.”

With no guards in sight and the gallery minutes away from closing its doors, Dean turns to face Castiel, fixing him with a brief intense look that makes Castiel’s skin tingle. As he turns away, Dean picks up a brochure from a small table they are stood by and pretends to start reading it, whilst speaking to Castiel in a low tone. 

“Alright gorgeous, this is the point of no return, it’s precisely one minute until closing time. We either walk out with the crowd and go out for a quiet dinner or we stay. If we stay, we’re committed to going through with it, once those doors close… there’s no turning back.” Dean flips through the gallery brochure and doesn’t look at Cas as he speaks. “Do you really want it, that much?”

“More.” Cas answers almost breathlessly, Dean turns to meet Castiel’s eyes and they stare at each other for a moment, before Dean seems to snap out of it, blinking and turning away.

“Ok, you’re the boss, but, just do as I tell you.” Dean finally says, seeming completely calm though his heart is pounding wildly in his chest. 

They wait in silence for closing time and for the guards to clear out the gallery. At the sound of the bell, which marks the shutting time of the gallery, all the patrons leave while Cas and Dean stand back, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Dean takes his brochure and puts a handful of coins inside it. He walks over to a table nearby and carefully places the brochure on top of it before heading back to Castiel. “Watch for normal human reaction.” 

A passing guard picks up the brochure and the change slips through the pages and falls to the ground, drawing the people nearby to help pick it up. The distraction is enough to give them space to sneak behind the velvet rope and into the tiny broom closet under the stairs. 

Castiel hadn’t imagined that the closet would be this tiny, he can feel the cold wall against his back and then Dean’s warmth pressing in close to his front. Dean bumps into Cas as he digs in his pocket, pulling out a small flashlight, it lights up the tiny room enough that they are not in the pitch dark. Cas looks up into Dean’s eyes as one of the man’s feet knocks gently against one of his, while he tries to find a comfortable position. 

Standing squashed closely together, they listen as the guards walk around the gallery checking that everyone had left. Cas and Dean wait in nervous silence, they’re standing so close together that they avoid eye-contact with each other for a short while. However, a sound on the other side of the door but close by forces their eyes to meet in a mutual moment of panic. Shifting slightly Dean brings a finger to his lips and silently ‘shhs’ Castiel, who is looking back at him with wide, fearful eyes. Dean drops the hand that had been raised to his mouth, to Castiel’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze as he smiles at him reassuringly. 

Cramped together and touching from shoulder to hip, they wait in the closet for almost an hour before hearing the guards make their first rounds of the gallery and Dean checks the time. One guard comes very near the closet and Cas is, once again, frightened that they will be found, he leans closer to Dean. His hand gripping onto the sleeve of Dean’s jacket tightly. When they hear the guards go back into the security office Dean checks the time again.

“One minute past nine. Now we know. They make their rounds hourly.” Dean wait a few minutes to make sure all the guards are back in the security office. 

“Stay here a moment. I’ll go to the coat check and get your bag of clothes.” 

For a moment, Dean thinks that Castiel is going to ask him to stay. The way Castiel looks up at him, his beautiful blue eyes full of concern… concern that Dean could get caught. To reassure him, Dean shoots him a flirtatious wink and grins when Castiel rolls his eyes dramatically. 

Dean carefully opens the closet door, he peers out into the room beyond to check the coast is clear before sneaking out and quietly making his way to the front of the gallery where they had been asked to leave their bag when they arrived. He locates and grabs it quickly, bringing it with him back to the closet.

“Here put these on.” says Dean, passing Castiel the bag.

“Turn around.” Cas requests shyly.

“Oh please, I got them big enough that they will fit over your clothes. That way we don’t leave anything behind.” 

“Oh, okay.” Cas nods dumbly, “Thank you.”

While Cas is pulling on the ugly clothes, Dean pulls out his boomerang. 

“What in heaven’s name are you doing with that?” Cas whispers.

“If you were security and you had to sit here night after night and guard a bunch of items that you could never afford, how would you feel?” Dean asks.

“I don’t know, irritable?” 

“Exactly. Now, shh, just wait here.” Dean places a single finger against Cas’s lips, meeting his eyes as he hushes him. Then he gives Castiel a tiny nod and quietly leaves the closet with the boomerang in his hand. He tosses the toy into the air so that it passes close to the painting. The first time he doesn’t get it close enough and nothing happens so, with a quick glance about him, he refocuses and tosses it again. This time it goes right past the infrared security system and Dean feels the vibrations in his very heart as the alarm blares to life loudly. Dean catches the boomerang and runs back to the closet, slipping in beside Castiel as quickly and as quietly as he can. 

“What-” Cas is holding his hands over his ears and is about to shout at Dean over the sound of the alarm but Dean puts his hand over Castiel’s mouth and leans in against him in the tiny space. 

“Shh, just hang on,” Dean whispers. Cas looks at him with big eyes and nods, his hands are resting on Dean’s hips where they had landed as Dean reentered the closet to steady him. Dean leans back and looks Cas up and down, “These clothes are terrible on you by the way.” he grins. He slowly leans forward again and plants a soft kiss Cas on the cheek, “but you’re still gorgeous.” 

Cas rolls his eyes trying to conceal the faint blush spreading across his cheeks he looks down at his outfit, finding himself agreeing internally with the fact that the outfit looks terrible. 

As all hell breaks loose outside the closet, with the guards all running around and shouting, Dean and Cas stay quietly hidden and huddled close together, they listen to all the people scurrying about on the other side of the door. They can hear people running up and down the stairs above them and men talking just outside the closet door. Finally, the head guard shuts off the alarm and resets it. All the guards file back into the guard's room and go about their normal duties, clearly deciding that the alarm had malfunctioned. 

***

Once the commotion calms down and the gallery is quiet again, Cas looks up at Dean and smiles a small smile, leaning against him a little more than necessary. Dean looks down at how Cas his clinging onto him and grins. 

“My heart is racing and I feel awful,” Cas says quietly.

“Well I’d offer to call a doctor but I don’t think he’d fit in the closet,” Dean smirks at Cas.

Cas thumps him on the chest, “I feel awful, and I’m scared for you, too. I had no right to get you mixed up in all this. If you want to call it off...”

“Well, if we did that then what would happen to you when the specialist comes to test the painting? It’s a fake, isn’t it?”

“I…” Cas stares, completely lost for words. 

“No long involved lie, just nod if I’m right.” Cas nods. “Who painted it?”

“My Grandfather. How... when?”

“Since you first asked me to steal it,” replies Dean quietly.

“But if you knew… the thing is worthless…” Castiel frowns up at Dean, “then why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asks Dean as he looks deeply into Castiel’s eyes. He leans in, his hand coming up to rest against Castiel’s cheek and he kisses Cas, it’s slow and undemanding, but full of meaning. As he pulls back again, meeting Castiel’s gaze, he searches his face for a reaction...

“That’s why?” Cas asks dumbfounded, ‘because he likes me’, he thinks to himself before editing his own thoughts and finally confessing to himself, ‘because we like each other’, he smiles at Dean... “I’m so stupid. Could you please explain again?”

Dean grins widely and pulls Castiel in more firmly, he kisses him even more deeply and his fingers wind themselves into Castiel’s hair. The light from the flashlight glints off Cas’s ring catching Dean’s eye, he sighs looking down at it. 

“Oh, my engagement ring. I’d forgotten about that,” said Castiel touching the ring lightly. 

“Me too. Remind me, who’s fiance am I kissing?” Dean asks teasingly and then says seriously, “You don’t… I mean, do you want this?” Dean looks at the ring pointedly, feeling an uneasy twist in his stomach that Castiel’s wearing another man’s ring on his hand. Castiel shakes his head. 

“No, I don’t. Honestly, I am not even sure how this happened, Mick just turned up at the house and surprised me.” Castiel frowns at the ring that now seems to be weighing heavily on his finger, “This is just metal,” he says softly as he takes the band off his ring finger and moves it on to his other hand, he looks up at Dean again, “It doesn’t mean anything. I just wanted to get out of there quickly and I wasn’t sure what to say… My mind was already here, in the gallery… with you.” 

Dean smiles, letting Castiel’s words soothe the jealousy that had begun to brew inside him, he decides that for now, he can forget about this ‘Mick’ person - they could deal with that later - together, providing, of course, that they didn’t get caught trying to steal ‘The Angel’s Heart’, “So, I may kiss the groom?” asks Dean, his tone both joking and flirty, Cas blushes and nods, his cheeks burning red as he fights the smile threatening to take over his face. Dean leaned in again, resting his body flush against Castiels, one hand wraps around Cas’ waist and the other holds the back of his neck, tilting his head slightly to the side. Dean’s soft, plump lips find Castiel’s and they both sigh into the kiss. 

A short while later, Dean pulls away from Cas and looks at his watch,. “Second round coming up. Stay here.” He presses two fingers to Cas’s lips and Cas kisses his fingers, “Just marking my place,” smiles Dean, “I’ll be right back.”

Cas’s curiosity gets the better of him though and he stealthily follows Dean out of the closet and watches from behind a pillar what Dean does with the boomerang, excitement courses through him when the alarm goes off again and Dean skillfully catches the toy. 

Dean runs back into the closet but instantly realizes Cas isn’t there, slightly panicked he pokes his head back out the door and grabs Cas, pulling him back into the closet and into his arms. 

Cas stretches his arms out and sighs as he wraps them back around Dean’s waist, “It’s amazing how much room there suddenly seems to be in this little closet, now.” 

Dean waits a few moments, spending the time his new favorite way, kissing Cas, he almost gets too lost in it. The feel of the other man pressed against him, the feeling of his lips against Deans, the soft moan that Castiel lets out when Dean presses his teeth lightly against his lower lip before releasing it. 

Dean pulls back, feeling breathless, he needs to keep his head in the game. He strokes his thumb lightly over Castiel’s face, giving him one final peck on the lips before telling him to wait while he quickly looks out the door again, at the painting. The lights of the alarm are off. The guards had actually disabled the security system. He hurries back into the tiny room feeling immense disbelief and stares at Cas in amazement. 

“Well, what do you know, it actually worked. They turned off the alarm.” Dean says sounding and looking somewhat stunned.

“Well, isn’t that what you expected? You’re a genius!” Cas stage whispers and kisses Dean on the cheek. 

“It’s a funny feeling,” Dean nods, still flabbergasted that it really worked. “Ready for phase two?” 

Castiel smiles at Dean, “I’m ready.” 

***

Dean sneaks out across the marble floor of the gallery, to the painting and lifts it carefully off the wall, as his heart hammers painfully in his chest he removes ‘The Angel’s Heart’ from it’s frame. Rehanging the empty frame neatly on the wall, he takes the painting back to Castiel who is waiting in the closet, Castiel’s eyes go wide when he sees it in Dean’s hands, he smiles at him excitedly. 

Dean looks smug as he rolls the painting loosely around the inside edges of a mop bucket and then covers the sides with a couple of dusting clothes so that the back of the painting is facing out and the picture side is hidden against the bucket wall... 

“Now, we wait for the moment of extreme confusion and then you start cleaning your way to the security office, and don’t let go of this bucket.”

“The security office!?” Cas looks shocked.

“Trust me, gorgeous, with all the commotion going on out there, the guards will be running around everywhere, _ except _in the security office.”

Cas nodded his understanding and leans down resting the side of his cheek on Dean’s shoulder, “Do you really think that I’m…”

“More than any of the pieces of art in this whole place, Cas,” says Dean with sincerity. 

Castiel hums softly in gratitude, nuzzling closer to Dean, “I guess I always just thought you were trying to be charming…” 

Dean huffs out a laugh, “Can’t it be both? Just because I was trying to be charming, doesn’t mean it was dishonest,” he turns his head slightly to look down into Castiel’s face, “You’re the most stunning work of art I’ve ever seen, Castiel. You’re worth more than any of the valuable pieces in this building, you’re worth more than the sun, or the moon… you’re rapidly becoming my whole damn world…”

Castiel’s eyes glaze over as he stares back at Dean, but then a terribly sad look crosses his face, “I shouldn’t have involved you in any of this… You shouldn’t be here because of me…” 

Dean presses his lips to the top of Castiel’s head lightly and whispers, “There is nowhere else I’d rather be. Come on, we’re so close Cas, let’s do this together...” 

As they step out of the tiny closet, Cas takes a moment to look back at the little space dreamily and smile up at Dean. Dean grins back at him, understanding. 

Dean hands Cas the bucket and tells him to hide just out of sight and wait for the cleaning crew who should be arriving within minutes. Before Dean leaves to hide elsewhere, Cas reaches up and cups Dean’s face in his hands and kisses him tenderly.

“Normal human reaction.” Cas teases. They separate breathlessly and Dean walks slowly away to hide, his and Castiel’s hands stretching out to hold on to each other for the longest possible time, before dropping to their sides as Dean steps further away. Castiel pushes himself back against the wall into the shadows to wait as instructed. 

Castiel waits nervously in the dark, instantly missing Dean’s reassuring company. He peers out across the room, eyes searching for hints of the handsome rogue. His hand grips onto the handle of the bucket tightly, he can’t actually believe that they had got the painting off the wall, Dean was a genius, Dean was kind… and handsome and his lips… 

Cas jumps as the lights come on and the room is filling with cleaners, all busy and talking. He carefully slips in between them, wiping here and there, as he makes his way toward the security office, making sure to keep his back to any of the guards. 

It takes a few nerve-racking moments before one of the guards finally notices the frame hanging without a painting, he stares at it for a few seconds, his brain trying to process what his eyes are telling it, then… he freaks out. “ALARM! ALARM!” 

The head guard hurriedly turns the alarm system back on and right after the alarm is set one of the guards unwittingly reaches to straighten the empty frame, causing the alarm to sound. Once again, there are guards rushing in and out and angry shouts and Castiel glances up for a brief moment, feeling desperately sorry for them.

During the ruckus, Cas makes his way into the guard's room only to be surprised by a man sitting in the office in a guards uniform with his hat down over his eyes. Before Castiel can react, the man jumps up and grabs him placing a hand over his mouth as he drags him to the back of the office, he presses Cas up against the door and moves the hand covering his lips only to kiss him fully on the mouth. 

Cas’s eyes go wide until realizes that he knows those lips, he knows this kiss, his heart sores as he looks into the man’s eyes, Dean’s eyes. Cas sinks into the kiss and they enjoy a brief but heated moment before Dean takes his hand and leads him out the back door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading along, we hope that you are enjoying this story? Much love x


	5. Chapter 5

Running away from the gallery, Dean turns to look at Cas and pants, “For someone who only just started breaking the law- you’re showing a real flair for it.”

Castiel can’t help but beam back at Dean, ok - he’d broken the law, but is it really stealing when the thing you’re taking belongs to you in the first place? He decides not to dissect that question too closely, choosing instead to grab Dean’s outstretched hand and hold on tightly as they hurtle down the road, away from the gallery. The night air is cold against Castiel’s face, but Dean’s warmth runs through him from where their hands connect. 

They skid to a halt on the gravelly road, when they hear the shrill sounds of nearing sirens, Dean drags Castiel into a dark alleyway nearby, pushing him back against the wall and smiling at him before suddenly closing in and pressing his lips firmly against Castiel’s in a hungry kiss, just as the police cars speed past. 

Castiel’s stomach swoops and he groans into the kiss, bringing up his free hand and wrapping it around the back of Dean’s head, stopping the man from pulling away any time soon. Not that Dean seems to want to anyway, he is kissing Castiel as though he is a starving man at an all you can eat buffet. His hands-on Castiel’s waist, his left leg placed between Castiel’s. 

Castiel almost drops the bucket when Dean moves his leg, rubbing it experimentally up over Cas’ crotch. Their eyes meet and search each other's faces. His chest rising and falling rapidly, Castiel gives the slightest of nods and Dean presses in, even more, lips clashes and his knee rubbing over Castiel’s crotch with more confidence. Castiel groans softly, he can feel himself reacting to Dean’s teasing motions. 

“Dean, Dean… stop, we can’t do this… here.” says Castiel, finally becoming aware enough of his surroundings to pull away. 

Dean smiles, “Course not sweetheart, I just… I can hardly believe all…” Dean motions between them, “this.” 

“I know, I hardly believe it myself,” says Castiel softly, “but I like it.” 

Dean sighs happily, letting his eyes slip closed as he rests his forehead against Cas’, “Come on,” he whispers, “Let’s get you home."

“Actually…” Castiel bites his lip, “If you wouldn’t mind… I’d like it very much if I could stay with you tonight?” 

Dean’s eyes shine as he nods, “I’d like that too, Cas.” 

***

Not long later, Castiel and Dean arrive at the Ritz. They hurry, hand in hand to the elevator and wait in impatience for the shiny metal doors to open. Dean steps in and pulls Castiel to him, the door barely shutting before Dean has Castiel backed up against a wall again. 

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I first saw you, Cas…” admits Dean breathily against Cas’ neck as his hands wind around Castiel’s back possessively. 

“Even when I shot you?” asked Castiel, sounding guilty.

“Well, maybe not when you shot me,” chuckled Dean, “but when you were playing nurse afterward… That bit wasn’t so bad.” Dean wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. 

Cas places a hand on the wound sight and leans down to kiss Dean's arm... then he meets Dean’s surprised eyes as he begins pulling at his shirt, untucking it from his slacks. 

Dean feels his skin tingle as Castiel’s fingertips trace over the exposed strip of his stomach. He raises his hand to Castiel’s face in response and kisses him deeply with Castiel’s cheek cradled in his palm. 

With Dean’s shirt now completely freed from his pants, Castiel begins working lose his belt buckle, his hands shaking slightly as he tugs the clasp free, but just before he can work Dean’s belt from his pants the elevator comes to an abrupt stop with a loud ‘pinging’ sound. 

The doors begin to open and Castiel and Dean pull away from each other just in time to see a young couple waiting outside break apart from each other too… the four all exchange matching smirks, before swapping positions. Dean and Castiel stepping off the elevator as they step on, Castiel gives the woman a small smile as they pass each other and after a swift glance at Dean, the woman gives Castiel a thumbs up. 

Feeling pleased with himself, Castiel follows Dean from the elevator door to Dean’s room, standing back slightly while Dean fumbles in his pocket for his room key. He locates it quickly and opens the door wide for Castiel to pass through in front of him. Castiel waits for Dean to lock the door behind him, before reaching for his hand again and pulling him toward the bedroom. He places the bucket, with ‘The Angel’s Heart’ painting inside it down, at the side of Dean’s bed and then turns back to face Dean. 

Suddenly, feeling nervous Castiel smiles at him shyly, “Hello Dean.” he says as though they haven’t just spent the whole evening together, as though this is the first time that he is really seeing Dean, as though he finally is seeing the real Dean. 

“Hey, Cas…” says Dean mirroring Castiel’s smile back to him, he steps forward and pulls Castiel into a hug. As Dean wraps his arms around Cas tightly, Cas feels  their closeness give him strength and he trails his fingers along the collar of Dean's shirt, littering Dean’s neck with soft kisses.

Castiel’s hands glide up over Dean’s shirt and slip underneath the shoulders of his jacket, pushing it slowly back and down Dean’s arms. 

Dean simply stares back at Castiel in awe, his jacket hits the floor behind him, his heart is beating rapidly in his chest, his skin prickles with arousal as he meets Castiel’s ocean blue gaze, “Cas…” he says softly… 

But Castiel silences him with another kiss, it’s deep and needy and Dean surrenders to it almost immediately, moaning into Cas’ mouth when he feels him begin to unbutton his shirt. 

Pulling away slightly to tug Dean’s shirt down his arms Castiel smiles at him and with a voice full of emotion confesses some of how he’d been feeling since he’d met Dean, only a few days before, “At first… walking down those stairs and seeing you in my living room… it terrified me but after just speaking with you for a while, I don’t know, I just knew that you weren’t ‘a bad guy’, you might have been doing a ‘bad thing’ but you aren’t a bad guy Dean, the truth is… thief or not… You never had to agree to help me, but you did anyway, at great personal risk to yourself. I guess what I am trying to say is that, thief or not, you’re the best man I have ever met and not only that but since knowing you… my life has become an adventure and one that I will face happily, as long as you are with me.” 

“I’m not going anywhere,” says Dean quietly feeling a bloom of happiness bursting in his chest, he smirks and says, “See? I knew you cared.” 

Castiel shakes his head, grinning broadly as he closed the distance between them again and whispers a gruff, “Shut up,” against Dean’s lips before pushing him back onto the bed. Castiel climbs up onto the bed and swings a leg over Dean, straddling Dean’s waist. He leans down over him and kisses him fully on the mouth, before sitting up straight again. He shucks off his jacket and lets it drop to the floor at the side of the bed, while Dean’s hands come to rest on his thighs. Castiel undoes the buttons on his own shirt and tugs it free from his arms, tossing it to the floor. He meets Dean’s heated gaze with his own and gives an experimental roll of his hips, pressing himself down over Dean, whose eyes close instantly. 

“Ahhh shit, Cas…” breathes Dean, his voice sounding rough with lust. He feels his blood rushing south as he begins to harden. Castiel rolls again, but then makes a face and leans up to tug Dean’s belt from his pants. When it’s finally free and Castiel is throwing it from the bed, Dean shocks him by suddenly gripping his waist and rolling them over. 

Castiel feels heat swirling in his belly at how easily Dean had been able to manhandle him into the position he’d wanted. Apparently Dean had been growing impatient as now he was pressing himself down in between Castiel’s legs and practically growling into his ear as he began to rock his hips forward, seeking out some friction for his aching cock against Castiel. 

Dean licks, and sucks, and nibbles at Castiel’s neck as he desperately rocks against him. His breathing becomes rough and he gasps when Castiel reaches over him and scratches down his back lightly with his fingernails. 

“Fuck, Cas,” 

“Don’t stop, Dean…” moans Castiel, spreading his legs a little wider and pulling Dean down closer to him. His own breath is just as rough as Dean’s and he arches his hips up to meet Dean’s downward push, groaning out desperately, “so, so close… Dean.” 

Dean swallows Castiel’s next deep moan as he covers Cas’ lips with his own in a  passionate and needy kiss. He licks into Castiel’s mouth and bites gently at his bottom lip as he pushes down against him with another rough thrust. 

“Going to come for me, Cas?” he asks pulling his face back slightly. His pupils are completely blown, Castiel’s fingers are digging into the skin of his back as he slides against him. He is so, so close, but he desperately wants Castiel to come first. He wants to see Castiel’s beautiful face when that moment of pleasure hits and then, and only then, will Dean allow himself to follow him over that edge. He realizes, he’d follow him anywhere… 

“Yes-yes…” Castiel cries out, his eyes squeeze shut and his hips rock up against Dean’s crotch as he comes, “DeanDeanDeanDean, shit…” 

Smiling and total lust drunk, Dean follows him with his own climax moments later, he drops heavily to Castiel’s side, panting and red-cheeked, but he still kisses back enthusiastically when Castiel rolls on to his side and tugs Dean’s face gently toward him. 

“That.” kiss, “was,” kiss, “amazing…” says Castiel happily in between kisses, “And now… I’m going to sleep for a week.” 

Dean laughs but doesn’t complain as the pair, cuddled together closely, stickiness be damned, “Night gorgeous.” 

***

Dean wakes early in the morning, the warm golden sunlight peeking through the curtains of the hotel room. He smiles at how Castiel is wrapped around him. Dean snuggles closer, kissing Cas’s forehead which causes him to stir. Blue eyes blink up at Dean, as a sleepy smile graces Cas’s face. 

“Hey Cas, how are you this beautiful morning?” asks Dean.

“I’m… actually wonderful. I slept like a baby. Is that bad?” Cas stretches, then curls himself around Dean’s chest, using him as a pillow. 

“No, it’s your criminally, tainted blood.” Dean teases, Castiel rolls his eyes and elbows him lightly. 

“The Angel is safe?” Cas asks looking around.

“Oh, he’s fine, he’s wrapped up in one of my shirts, all safe and sound.”

“I suppose we shouldn’t be seen together for a while?” Cas asks coyly, looking at Dean out of the corner of his eye.

“Why not?” Dean leans in close and kisses Castiel, “I know I can’t speak for you, but I want us to spend time together… a lot of time. I suppose I do need to get you home though. Can we meet for lunch after you’ve had a chance to clean up and change clothes?”

Dean’s hopefully expression warms Castiel’s heart and he smiles, “Of course, Dean… and you know. I don’t have to leave - right this second.” his  mischievous smile brightening up his face as he shifts the sheets covering them and smooths his hand over Dean’s bare chest. 

Dean’s eyes light up and his tongue darts out to wet his lips, “I could get used to waking up next to you, you know?” 

***

Gabriel is standing in the gallery in front of the empty frame that should hold ‘The Angel’s Heart’ painting. He looks tired, his hair is uncombed, his eyes are slightly pink from rubbing them and his suit is rather more crumpled than he would usually go out in. He is surrounded by press representatives from several newspapers, all asking him about the stolen painting. 

“Mr. Novak - When did you know it was missing?”

”Mr. Novak - What will you do now? 

“Mr. Novak - Are you offering a reward?”

“I found out that the painting had been stolen when the director of the gallery called me in the middle of the night. What? A reward? No, I mean that just feels so commercial and against the beliefs of our family. I can’t think of money at a time like this.”

Gabriel wipes his forehead, his nerves beginning to get the best of him. As far as the painting being taken, he can’t believe his luck, stolen - in the middle of the night, just gone… and all his troubles with it, well… All but one. Castiel hadn’t come home last night and Gabriel was worried. It wasn’t like Castiel to stay out all night, it was even less like him to stay out and not even call to let Gabriel know where he was… 

Gabriel was concerned that Castiel and the painting had both been ‘taken’, that maybe someone was at this very moment composing a ransom note… What would they do to Castiel if they found out that the painting was a fake? 

One reporter comments about how upset he must be, to have lost a family heirloom, and Gabriel just nods feeling numb. Another mentions how his brother was too distraught to even attend the press conference and his face pales. The press conference only lasts about twenty minutes but to Gabriel, it feels like a lifetime. When he is released from the public eye, he pulls his phone from his pocket and texts his brother to see if he can find out, if he was alright and where he had been all night and to tell him the news about the painting. 

***

Across town, Mick Davies bursts into Sam Winchester’s office. “Can you believe what’s happened?” He waves a newspaper in front of Sam’s face.

“I believe the police are conducting an investigation,” Sam says calmly.

“The police! No, I need you on this. Your agency is the best at finding that which cannot be found. I need you to find ‘The Angel’s Heart’. Besides if we wait for the police the Angel will be out of the country before we have a chance. And I’ll never be able to set eyes on it again.” He leans on Sam’s desk. “I’m still vitally interested in the Angel. Hot or cold. I want that painting.”

Sam’s eyes widen and he lowers his voice as he responds, “Mick, do you realize what you're saying? You’re compounding a felony. You’re offering to become a receiver of stolen goods.”

“Augh, I’m an art lover. As a concerned citizen, I want to make an independent inquiry to help the police. And if we happen to find it before they do… so be it.” 

“I can’t be a part of this. I’m not a fence, I do not deal in stolen goods,” says Sam firmly. 

“Fine, I’ll do it on my own. All I need is a contact. Just help me with a name.” Mick pleads.

“Alright, I’ll give you a name and a place he will contact you, but what about Castiel Novak? I thought you were interested in marrying him.”

“I will have them both, the Angel and Castiel,” says Mick confidently and without thanking Sam, he turns and walks out of his office. 

Sam immediately texts Dean details about his impending meeting with Mick.

***

Castiel is just coming downstairs, after a nice hot shower, a shave and a change of clothes, when Gabriel arrives home from the press conference, looking disheveled. 

“When… I didn’t know you were home.” Gabriel gives Cas a puzzled look, before rushing forward to embrace him in a rare hug, “I didn’t know where you were?” 

“I’m sorry, I meant to call but I got… distracted. I’m home now, but I’ll be leaving again soon.” Castiel wanders away from Gabe toward the kitchen.

Gabriel opens his mouth to ask him a question but a knock at the door stops him and he blinks after Castiel a moment before going to answer it. Gabriel opens the door to see the director of the gallery standing there, looking very distraught.

“Good morning Mr. Dermont,” Gabriel says, eyeing the man carefully, “Any news?”

“I’ll just come straight out and tell you, ‘The Angel’s Heart’ was uninsured.” Mr. Dermont says looking wide-eyed and pale.

“But, I distinctly remember signing a paper to insure all the pieces we loaned to the gallery.”

“Yes, you signed but the policy was not in force, not until the technical examinations were made, and they were never done on ‘The Angel’s Heart’.”

“Wait, a moment…” says Gabriel trying to figure out how to respond quickly, “you’re not saying that… we will get nothing? That piece was a precious family heirloom… It’s value to us, goes beyond mere money!” 

““Mr. Novak, I feel terrible about this and we will, of course, compensate you for the emotional trauma that your family has had to endure, however it will not be to the amount value of the painting. Should the painting be recovered, however then we will get it tested immediately and…”

“We will look into this ourselves,” says Gabriel quickly, “This really isn’t about the money, this is about our family and we will deal with what has happened, as a family. Thank you for your concern, but I rather think we are done with the gallery, all that I ask is that our other pieces be returned as soon as feasibly possible. Now, if you will excuse me... I think I need to console my brother, he was up all night.” Gabe looks toward the stairs wondering what Castiel was really up to last night.

“Please, accept my condolences.” Mr. Dermont nearly whimpers.

“Yes, thank you. And thank you for coming by, but I do need to check on my brother now.”

Gabriel shows Mr. Dermont out the door, feeling badly that he had to be rather harsh with the man, but having the gallery launch an investigation into the disappearance of the painting wouldn’t do… If they found it, Gabriel would be back to square one. He would have to hire a team to look for the painting to keep up appearances, but he could choose the team and when to call off the search- which of course, would be done rather quickly, he was already thinking of how he could play it out - ‘Novak’s distraught by the loss of family heirloom, call of search and ask for privacy during this difficult time’. He smiles to himself as the door closes behind Mr. Dermont and turns to the stairs, shouting for Castiel.

“Cassie!!”

“Gabe?” Cas shouts in return.

“Cassie, where are you?”

“I’m in here!” says Castiel coming out of the kitchen quickly. “Did I hear that right? We’re saved?”

“Thank heaven for the criminal class.” Gabe says sagging with relief, “we will need to hire some crappy investigating team to look for the painting - give them a week or two - then close the case singing their praises about how we know everything has been done to find it, or something…” 

Castiel smiles, “I know someone who can help…”

Gabriel raises an eyebrow at him, “They can’t actually find it, you realize?” 

Castiel scowls, “I know what needs to be done, Gabriel.” 

“Well alright then… We should celebrate! We’ll go out for lunch, have champagne and -”

“Yes, we will, but not right now. I have a very important appointment at the Ritz. But I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Gabe watches as Cas gathers his jacket and practically runs out the door. “The Ritz, again?”

***

Mick is seated in the lounge at the Ritz when a tall man approaches his table and sits without preamble. This must be his contact. The man orders scotch and water and stares at Mick until his drink comes. 

Dean watches Mick as he thinks over what Sam had told him about the man wanting their agency to find the stolen painting, he is also aware that this is the man who had proposed to Castiel. He eyes him up from across the table, beating back the temptation to lay down his own ‘claim’ for Castiel’s hand… it was much too soon for that anyway. But this Mick had eyes for Castiel, which meant in no uncertain terms, that Dean wanted him firmly out of the picture. He had to make sure and play his cards right and that everything came out in the best way for Castiel in the end. 

“You realize that what you’re asking is extremely difficult and dangerous,” Dean says sternly to Mick.

“Yes, I realize but this is very important to me and I am willing to pay.”

“Luckily, I have some contacts and I made a few calls this morning, just on a hunch,” Dean says, trying to keep things mysterious and not give the man any real information.

“So you have a lead?” Mick asks in a hushed voice, leaning forward eagerly. 

“I have an idea.” Dean corrects, before taking a sip of his scotch casually.

“Is the… what we’re talking about, is it still in New York?” 

“I have it on good authority that  _ it _ is indeed still in New York,” Dean says seriously. “Now, you do realize that you might be paying a lot of money for something that you can never tell anyone about, or ever display... even in your own house?”

“I realize that but I need to own the...  _ It _ . I need to be able to take it out of my vault and look at it and know that I own it. That it is mine.”

“One more thing,” Dean begins, as though as an afterthought, “Do you happen to know the owners, any of the Novak family?”

“Well, I know Gabriel a little, and as a matter of fact, I’m going to see Castiel tonight.” Mick smiles fondly, which makes Dean’s stomach twist. 

“Oh no, that’s not good. Don’t see him, don’t even call him. It’s vital that you have no contact with the Novak family. My contacts may spot it and believe it to be a trap. We will lose the...  _ you know what _ forever.”

“But, we’re engaged,” Mick complains, frowning at Dean.

“How are you planning on keeping the painting from Castiel if you eventually plan to be married? I don’t see that working…” asks Dean, curious as to how Mick, will talk his way out of this one. 

“Castiel won’t know. As I say, I will keep it in my vault…” 

“He’d find out eventually, surely? And that would lead to questions… which would lead back to myself. I can’t have that Mr. Davies. From what I’ve heard, Castiel is an intelligent and charming man. You should forget the painting and go get your man.” 

Mick pales, “No, no. I can’t forget the… painting. I’ll do anything you say.”

“Very well,” says Dean, (both secretly relieved and furious that this man would trade Castiel for a painting) he leans in close and lowers his voice, “you’ll need to break it off with Castiel, never contact him or his brother again. Don’t even tell him goodbye, just leave him.”

Mick thinks about it for a moment before he nods and answers, “Yes, anything you say.”

Continuing to play his part, Dean says, “Okay, I’ll call you later in the day with news.”

“You’ll contact me? Okay got it. Thank you, thank you so much.” Mick gets up to leave, giving Dean a thumbs up and a crooked grin before turning and walking away. Dean glares at his back as he walks away and mutters under his breath. 

“Prick.” Dean can’t understand why anyone would give up the chance to be with Castiel over a painting, Mick hadn’t even tried to fight for him. Dean thinks of Castiel, how amazing he is, how his eyes light up when he is excited, how he had clung on to him when he’d been afraid… He knows without a doubt, he wouldn’t trade Castiel for all the money in the world. After everything that had happened over the last few days, Dean is fairly certain… he was quickly falling in love, with Castiel Novak.


	6. Chapter 6

Moments after Mick leaves, Cas enters the lounge looking puzzled.

Castiel looks around the room as he enters, finding Dean already sitting at a booth, he hurries over to him. “Do I look alright?” Cas asks as he sits down next to Dean.

“Um, Yes,” Dean takes a good look at Cas in his tailored suit and a clean-shaven face, he can tell his hair was combed but now he’s been out in the wind and it's a bit messy, just the way Dean likes it, “you look very nice. Why?”

“Well, I saw Mick outside in the lobby and I tried to give him this back,” Cas holds up a ring box, “And he practically ran away from me as if I were a leper or something. I thought it was odd.” He looks at Dean and grins, slipping the ring box back into his jacket pocket, “Never mind. Let’s celebrate. Or is it bad manners to celebrate a crime? Although we did do a bit of celebrating last night.” Cas blushes slightly when he looks into Dean’s eyes, “I don’t know the proper protocol, I’ll let you take the lead.”

Dean grins at Cas, never taking his eyes off those gorgeous blues, and orders them each a drink, as Cas continues to talk excitedly.

“Did you see the news, the papers, did you hear it on the radio? It’s the crime of the century and  _ we did it _ . Well, you were the brains behind it. But I did help, didn’t I? I mean we worked well together considering it was our first job.” Cas rambles in a stage whisper.

“Shh, calm down,” Dean says, grinning at Cas’s animated exhilaration, he lays a hand on Castiel’s arm to help calm the man down.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so excited, I guess it's all in a day’s work for you but it’s my first burglary.” Cas smiles at Dean, he turns his hand over and moves to hold Dean’s warm hand.

Dean rests his chin on his other hand and looks at Cas, enjoying how his eyes sparkling with excitement and happiness. But the time had come to confess and Dean hoped that Castiel wouldn’t see it as a betrayal, either way, he deserved the truth… “Mine too,” Dean says calmly. 

“I mean to make it all work out the way we .. did... “ Cas cocks his head and looks questioningly at Dean, “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

“It was my first burglary, too,” Dean explains plainly.

Cas looks confused at Dean for a moment. “No… It can’t… But then what were you doing in my house that night?”

“You’re sure you want to know?” Dean asks. Cas shakes his head squinting his eyes in concern, then nods as he frowns, focusing on Dean’s every word. 

“I’m a private detective specializing in stolen works of art and in tracing, detecting, and exposing forgeries.” Cas gasps and leans away from Dean. “I’m also an authority on museums and galleries security systems. I have degrees in the history of art and chemistry and the London University diploma -with distinction- in advanced criminology.”

Cas gulps, almost about to fall backward off the seat, “You’re... all that?”

“Mmhmm” Dean nods and grasps Cas’s biceps to keep him from scooting away any further. 

“Then, you’re not a thief?” Cas whispers softly, concern bleeding through his voice.

Dean shakes his head, “No, I’m not a thief. I was taking a chipping from that lovely Siegnac of yours when you barged in wearing your adorable bumblebee pajamas and shot me in the arm.” He gazes into Cas’s eyes and continues to hold his arms so he doesn’t fall off his seat. 

Castiel stares wide-eyed back at Dean, not wanting to believe him, but knowing somehow deep down that he’s telling the truth. Somehow, the feeling of betrayal is far worse than the fear that this could all have been a trap. Had Dean been simply playing him? Had none of it been real? 

“Hey-hey…” Dean squeeze’s his arm lightly, “don’t go getting lost in that head of yours… I’m right here, I was hoping you wouldn’t need to ask, but I can tell by the look on your face… You’re thinking the worst.” 

Castiel looks into Dean’s eyes and feels a deep sense of reassurance, Dean has never lied to him, he smiles weakly, “Normal human reaction?” 

Dean huffs out a laugh and relaxes his grip on Castiel’s arm now that he knows he isn’t going to make a run for it, “Cas… being in your house that first night -  _ that -  _ was my job, every time being with you since… that was…” Dean sighs trying to find the right words to say… but someone walking towards their table catches his eye and he looks up. 

Castiel was starting to calm down until he notices Gabriel walking up to the booth. His eyes dart from his brother to Dean and back, feeling nervous he decides to avoid saying anything by picking that moment to take a sip from his drink. 

Gabriel stops in front of their table and beckons to a nearby waiter, “Can you bring another glass, please?” Gabe asks the man as he takes a seat at the table with Cas and Dean. The waiter nods and hurries away and Gabriel rounds on Dean, eyeing him suspiciously, “I don’t believe we’ve met.” 

“Gabe!” Castiel startled at hearing his brother’s accusing tone and he blinks a few times clearing his head from the spell he had been under, “Um, this is a friend of mine. This is -”

“Yes, let me guess,” Gabriel buts in, not looking at Castiel but still holding Dean’s gaze. He never once takes his eyes off Dean as he speaks and Castiel glances back and forth between them and wonders if things were about to go very badly, “Tall, green eyes, handsome, and a terrible man, I’m sure. Am I right?” 

“Uh, um” Cas stutters. Dean looks at Gabe with mischief in his eyes. Cas stares between the two men for a moment, wishing the tense atmosphere could be broken, deciding to try and get things moving along, Castiel says, “Gabriel, this is Dean Winchester. Dean, this is my brother Gabriel.”

“I believe we have some common interests,” Gabe says to Dean, letting Castiel sit there in tense silence watching the conversation unfolding in front of him.

“Yes, we do. You have two gorgeous angels in your family, Gabriel,” Dean smirks at Castiel. He doesn’t miss the slight blush on Castiel’s cheeks.

“Two?” Gabe asks, momentarily confused. 

“The other is up in my room,” Dean admits, with another side glance at Castiel.

“Ah-ha,” Gabe says, eyeing Dean with increasing interest, he raises his brow and asks, “And which, may I ask, do you intend to keep?”

“The real one,” Dean answers without hesitation, he pulls Cas closer to him as Castiel’s face turns a deep shade of red, “If he’ll have me, of course…” 

Cas is stunned into silence and can’t take his eyes off Dean.

“A wise choice, if I may say so.” says Gabriel, with a smile, “And the other?”

“Oh, I have plans for that one too. I think you’ll be pleased.” Dean finishes his scotch, “In fact, I have to go attend to him right now, so if you’ll both excuse me.” He gets up and winks at Castiel, before turning and walking quickly out of the lounge. 

“Extraordinary. Tell me, Cas, is he always so abrupt?” Gabe asks, seeming fascinated. 

“Not in the broom closet.” Cas answers so quietly it’s almost to himself, his eyes stuck on the door where Dean exited. 

Cas digs in his pocket and pulls out the small ring box, he looks inside and cries out when he realizes it’s empty. He slaps his hand over his mouth and stares at the box and then up at Gabe. Once his mind settles, he knows exactly what happened to the ring. 

***

Dean meets up with Mick Davies at a small private airport. He walks with him to his personal jet to bid him farewell, handing over the tube containing the painting. 

Mick accepts the tube gratefully. He rushes to shake Dean’s had and board his plane.

Dean stops him and holds up a key, dangling it between his finger and thumb with a grin on his face. Mick looks at the key then at Dean. Dean gives a little nod toward the tube and that’s when Mick notices the padlock on the tube. He also notices the ring attached to the padlock. 

Mick looks at Dean suspiciously but takes the key, gripping it tightly. 

“Remember,” Dean says, “You can never tell anyone about this or display it anywhere.”

“Yes, I remember. You’ve done a wonderful job. Are you sure I can’t pay you now?” Mick asks.

“No, no, you’ll be contacted. And don’t worry if it's not in the near future.” 

“Thank you for all your hard work,” Mick replies happily.

“Happy landing!” Dean steps back and waves as Mick climbs into his jet, feeling smug and thrilled to be rid of the forgery, the engagement ring, and the man all at once. 

Mick climbs aboard his jet and immediately unlocks the padlock, slipping the ring into his pocket. He opens the tube and carefully slides out the contents. His eyes go huge when he takes in ‘The Angel’s Heart’ right there in his own hands. “Yes, it’s mine at last!” He says to himself. 

Dean gets into his car and calls Sam. “No more worries, brother. The situation has been handled. I’m heading over to the Novak’s now to take care of everything else.” 

***

“Oh Dean, what a coo!” Gabriel yelled excitedly, practically shaking with giddiness as he guides Dean into the living room, “And he’s the only collector who would never dare to have it tested! How much did you say he was paying for The Angel?” 

“I didn’t,” Dean smirks. 

“But I’m sure you picked a nice round figure?” presses Gabriel. 

“Of course, I have. Oh Oh Oh Oh,” Dean draws big circles in front of Gabe’s face, “yes a big fat zero - A gift from Gabriel Novak to Mick Davies.” Dean grabs Gabe by the arm and leads him to the couch, “Sit down Gabriel” he commands, “You happen to have owned a known forgery and tried to pass it off as authentic. I happen to be in the business of catching forgers and putting them in prison.”

Gabriel's expression hardens slightly, “Yes, that could be very awkward.”

“One of us has to retire,” says Dean matter-of-factly. 

“Shall we flip a coin?” Gabe asks, his tone laced with humor.

“I already did, on the way over here. And you lost. Now you’ve had a good run, but it’s time to do things on the legal side.” 

“Oh,” Gabriel nods looking rightfully repentant, “Yes, I agree. Everything from now on will be strictly legal business. You have my word.”

Castiel walks into the room just as they’re shaking hands. He freezes, taking in the scene before him with a skeptical expression, his eyes dart from his brother to Dean and back, a question in his slight frown. 

“You tell him. I’m too emotional.” Gabe says patting Dean on the arm as he releases his hand. 

Dean turns to Castiel with a warm smile, “Gabriel is going legit, no more forgeries or fakes of any kind,” 

“Oh, Gabe will you be alright?” Cas teases, whilst looking truly relieved. 

“He’ll be fine.” Dean slaps Gabe on the shoulder, before checking his watch and saying, ”My brother will be here any moment to discuss Gabe’s future options.” 

There is a knock at the door and the three men look at the door, “I bet that’s Sam now.” Dean grins at Gabriel, who walks away from him to let Sam in. 

Gabriel opens the door and has to tilt his head back to look into the face of the man standing there, staring back at him. 

“Hello, my name is Sam Winchester. You must be Gabriel?”

Gabe reaches out to shake Sam’s hand, “Yes, I’m Gabriel Novak. Please come in, your brother is just through here.”

“Oh good, Sam. Gabriel here has agreed that it’s time for him to leave behind his less genuine dealings and go straight…”

Gabriel glances from Dean to Sam, and mutters, “Straight isn’t the word I’d use…” 

Sam and Dean both catch his whispered comment and as Sam’s cheeks pink-up with a slight blush, Dean clears his throat…

“Well, I think Castiel and I will just… eh, hem, get out of your hair, I’m sure you have plenty to discuss.” 

Dean offers Sam his seat on the couch and stands to elaborate. “You see, Castiel and I have dinner reservations, so we really should be getting going…” 

“So, you’re not going to tell us how you managed to obtain the stolen painting?” Gabriel asks looking at Dean with a pointed stare, while Castiel smirks behind him.

“I think that’s a story for another time,” Dean replies, “The important thing is that Sam and I did our job, and neither you nor Cas are going to jail for dealing in forgeries.”

Dean glances at Castiel with warmth in his eyes at the look Castiel is giving him. His expression is filled with the awe of a man who knows he has been saved, and Dean looks back at him with a look that he hopes conveys to Castiel, that Dean would do it all again in a heartbeat. 

Dean steps toward Cas and motions toward the door with his head, he gives Cas a wink before taking his hand and they start backing out of the room.

“Oh, so you thought you two would just sneak out and no one would notice?” Gabe catches them and taps Sam’s arm and points toward the two escapees.

“Dean and I have plans, and, we, um…” Cas tries to come up with a quick excuse.

“Cas and I are leaving. We have a date, and I think you two can manage without us, at least for a little while, right?” Dean states calmly, earning a smile from Cas.

“Fine,” says Sam rolling his eyes, “You two go off on your big date, Gabe and I will be here, discussing the case. ” Sam looks at Gabe and says in just above a whisper, “You know Dean still has the room at the Ritz, right?”

“Of course he does.” Gabe mutters as he watches the two men leave out the front door, “So,” he says turning back to Sam, with a growing blush on his cheeks as he finally meets Sam’s eyes, “erm… drink?” 

***

Dean truly had made reservations for him and Castiel for dinner. They walked to the restaurant, hand in hand talking about the heat they had witnessed in Gabriel’s face as he’d set eyes on Sam. Once they got to the restaurant, they were greeted by a friendly waiter who seated them with a smile at a nicely secluded table.

“Finally,” sighed Castiel looking around at the lowly lit room, “I love my brother but he causes so much trouble and I am glad that he isn’t here and we can finally just relax,” he lowers his voice as he adds, “and you know, just have a nice meal without plotting any crimes or worrying about anything.” 

Dean chuckled, “Alright then, maybe we should make a rule for this evening - ‘Art’ is off the table as a topic for discussion… I think we have focussed enough on that for a while now anyway… don’t you? Besides, I really want to know what other things you enjoy?” 

Castiel smiles brightly, pulling the menus toward him and handing one over to Dean, “Good idea…” he glanced at the menu, “Well, I enjoy Italian food for one thing.” 

Dean smirks relieved that Castiel is happy with his choice of restaurant, “I may or may not have asked Gabriel for suggestions…” 

“It’s appreciated. Although asking Gabriel was a bit of a risk, I am surprised he didn’t say something like…”

“That you’re a big fan of very spicy Indian dishes?” questions Dean looking amused, “he did. Well, he tried but I warned him that at that point I still had a certain belonging of his in my possession and he changed his answer…”

“How did you know that I wouldn’t like spicy food?” asked Castiel curiously. 

“It was more the fact that Gabriel sounded like an arch-villain, when describing how much you enjoyed it, he said something along the lines of ‘Cassie enjoys it when his food makes both ends burn’.” Dean laughs, “It was a bit of a clue…”

Castiel shakes his head, muttering “I’ll kill him.” 

“Don’t worry about it, even if we’d ended up going somewhere you hadn’t like… We wouldn’t have stayed, I don’t really care where we go, the point is I wanted to spend some time with you that wasn’t us trapped in some tiny closet, barely able to speak above a whisper…” 

Castiel grins, then tilts his head at Dean, “Hey! I enjoyed our time in that closet.”

Dean’s face lights up, “Me too. It was kind of exciting. You’re sure you won’t get bored of me now that we aren’t planning crimes together?” 

“I highly doubt that I will ever get bored of you Dean, you make feel brave… and happy. It wasn’t the ‘breaking the law’ bit that made it exciting… it was being with you. What you did… you’re a genius. Honestly, when you started messing around with those boomerangs in the park - I wanted to strangle you… but you put together a brilliant plan. I still can’t quite believe. I was rather rude to you, in the beginning, and I am sorry, I was just -”

“Scared?” asks Dean reaching out to rest his hand on top of Castiel’s, “I get it Cas, you were in trouble and I wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the information. I wasn’t entirely convinced we could do it but thanks to my job, I am able to think how a criminal thinks…  Guess thinking like a criminal worked out for us, for committing the actual crime in this case, rather than preventing it.”

“That’s something else that I need to apologize for… I’ve turned you into a criminal.” 

“We both know you thought it was hot - when you thought I was already a thief.” Dean winks

Castiel pulls his hand away from Dean to brush some hair behind his ear as his cheeks heat up, “Maybe just a little… but that’s beside the point, Dean. I made you-”

“You didn’t  _ make  _ me do anything. I’m a big boy, Cas, I make my own decisions and I wanted to help you. You’re a good person and you didn’t deserve to- well, you’re a good person. That’s all. We both took a risk and” Dean meets Castiel’s eyes pointedly, “I’d say it more than paid off.” 

“Well, I am certainly grateful for all of it, including the time in ‘our’ closet” Castiel smiles cheekily, “Now, we should order, I don’t know about you, but I am starving.” 

***

A short while later, their food arrives and as they eat discussion turns to Mick Davies and how Dean had cleverly managed to get rid of him. Dean was very pleased to hear Cas talking about how crazy the man was to propose to him out of the blue. 

“I mean it was utterly ridiculous. Why on earth would he think that I would have said yes? I barely know the man and he wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that he’d arranged our meeting to try and get his hands on the painting.”

“What was ridiculous, was that he held more value in the painting than you…” said Dean sweetly, “even if it had been the genuine ‘Angel’s Heart’, he was missing the true angel right in front of him.” 

“I’m no angel,” whispers Castiel

“You’re an angel to me,” says Dean firmly, “seriously, I have wondered - how can you be real, I mean look at you. You’re completely gorgeous - and not just in appearances Cas, you have such a big heart. Mick was a fool for not being able to see it but I do.” 

“Flattery will get you far. Mr. Winchester,” smirks Castiel. 

Dean laughs, “Flirt.” 

“You started it!”

“Yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I gorgeous?”

“Are you…” Castiel clears his throat suddenly looking a little nervous, “Are you still staying at the Ritz? Why were you living there anyway?” 

“That it was only temporary,” Dean says, “I have an apartment but I was getting the kitchen and bathroom redone. It was just easier to keep out of the way while that was all going on, you know? Actually, I think they should have finished by now, I spoke to one of the guys in charge earlier to check on a delivery that was due today, he said they were packing up… I can show you later if you behave.” smirks Dean.

“I’d like that.” Cas blushes, “However, I can’t make any promises about my behavior once we get there.” 

Dean’s eyebrows shoot up, but he recovers quickly and lowers his voice as he leans in towards Castiel, “If you can’t behave yourself, Castiel… I’m afraid I might have to punish you…” 

Cas's eyes dilate with lust, and feeling bold he whispers back to Dean,  “We both know you’d think it was hot - if I was a little bit naughty...” 

Dean calls for the check.

***

Dean holds open the passenger side door of the Impala for Castiel to climb, but he stops him as he steps forward and kisses him passionately for almost a full minute before pulling back breathlessly, “I’ve been wanting to do that all evening…” 

Castiel smirks and meets Dean’s eyes with his own burning with arousal and says, “We still have all night.”

“Mr. Novak, I’m inclined to believe that you are trying to seduce me,” says Dean grinning like a love-struck idiot. 

Castiel shrugs lightly and says, “Again - you started it.” 

“I think I’ve been a bad influence on you…” says Dean as Castiel gets into the passenger seat and Dean gently shuts his door for him. Dean walks around the back of the car, quickly adjusting himself where Castiel wouldn’t be able to see, their kiss had woken ‘little Dean’ well and truly - up. He gets into the driver’s seat and turns to look at Castiel, he bites his bottom lip, this drive was going to be hell if Castiel kept looking at him like he was now… Dean needed to concentrate on the road, not the angry pulsing of his… 

“So,  why haven’t you ever tried to sell one of your paintings?” he asks trying to take his mind off of all the things he would like to do with Castiel once they are alone together in his apartment. 

Cas seemingly affronted says “Because that would be dishonest.” 

Dean smiles to himself over how much of a big sweetheart Cas is, “Will you miss the angel?”

Cas sighs, “I mean - yes, my grandfather painted it, we had never planned to get rid of it or sell it - but, having said all that, I think that what I found instead, is so much better.” 

“What?” asks Dean not catching on straight away. 

“You.” 

“Oh-OH.” Dean smiles, “Careful gorgeous, you’re starting to make me think you care again…” 

“Maybe I do…” 

Dean reaches across the seat and takes Castiel’s hand in his.

***

The pair barely make it into Dean’s apartment before Cas is pulling Dean in for a kiss. Dean grins into it as he pushes the door closed behind him, he grabs Castiel by the hips and spins them around, pressing Cas against the door and kissing him hotly as his hands roam over Castiel’s hips and lower back. When they finally break apart Dean shows him into his apartment.

Cas steps into Dean’s home and looks around taking it all in, it’s much neater than he would have guessed but he remembers that Dean hasn’t really been living in it for the past couple of weeks as there have been builders in redoing his kitchen and bathroom. The living space is open plan with only a low wall separating it from the gleaming new kitchen. In the middle of the kitchen, there is an island with large pots and pans hanging above it. Dean flicks on some low lit wall lights and steps forward taking Castiel’s hand in his own.

“Do you want the tour?” he asks with a smile, “Or a drink?” 

“A drink would be good, thank you,” replies Castiel, his throat had gone a little dry as he’d realized he was with Dean, alone in his apartment. 

“No problem, you can take a look around if you like,” says Dean, he brings Cas’ hand up to his mouth and kisses the back of it lightly, “make yourself at home.” 

Castiel smiles at Dean then turns to the living room and walks forwards, his hand tracing over the back of the soft grey couch, “It’s nice,” he says, glancing back to Dean and adding, “very you,” after noticing the large framed band poster on the wall. 

Walking further forward he notices a large easel that had been blocked from view by the low wall between the kitchen and the living room. Investigating it closer he sees a blue bow wrapped around it and something warm bursts to life in his stomach as he realizes that it might be for him.

“Do you always keep an unused-easel in your living room?”

“Nope, that’s for you… I was hoping that you’d be spending a fair bit of time here, so I wanted you to have something here that was yours… do you like it?” 

“Are you kidding? It’s wonderful! Thank you so much, Dean, I really love it.”

Dean glances over to him smiling broadly, “You’re welcome.” Castiel excitedly pulls the bow off the easel and wraps the ribbon around himself, wearing it like a sash. He picks up the packet of paintbrushes that were placed on the stand examining them closely, a few moments later he feels two strong warm hands wrapping around his waist and Dean’s head rests on his shoulder as the man hugs him tightly from behind. 

Dean tilts his head to the side and whispers against Castiel’s neck, “I’m glad you like it, Cas… but you’re breaking the no art rule of our date.” 

Castiel smirks, “Oh, I’m sorry, do you have some other way of keeping me entertained then?” 

Dean’s breath catches for a moment, then his lips kiss and suck over Castiel’s earlobe, “Well, you broke the rules, doesn’t that count as you being naughty?” 

Castiel places the paintbrushes down on the easel's tray again and turns himself around, still wrapped in Dean’s arms, he presses forward, giving in to his intense desire for Dean and their lips meet and part immediately into a heated and passionate kiss. 

As he breaks away Castiel delights in the lust drunk look in Dean’s eyes, “Am I forgiven?” he asks coyly. 

“Hmmm, for now,” says Dean dreamily. 

“Maybe, I’ll just have to break the rules again then…” smirks Castiel, enjoying the back and forth flirting between them, it feels exciting and playful. He reaches behind him for a paintbrush and brings it back up in front of them to Dean’s face. Being brand new and clean, he runs the head of the brush over Dean’s lips, “I don’t think I can stop thinking about art Dean, not with you looking the way you do…” 

“Smooth,” smirks Dean, then his face lights up as an idea hits him, he reaches under his shirt and pulls out a small necklace pendant, holding it up where Castiel could see it, “Hey, Cas… Would you paint me wearing this..." Dean’s smile widens, "Wearing only this?"

Castiel eyes the pendant curiously for a moment, before looking past it and into Dean’s eyes, “Really? You want to model for me, Dean?” 

Dean wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, “I would.” 

Castiel looks impressed, then he steps back  and places his hand on Dean's chest tracing one finger down the line of buttons... His eyes flick up to meet Dean’s and his gaze turns hungry, “I'll need to see what I'll be working with, you know - all of what I'll be working with."

Castiel and Dean’s eyes are locked as Castiel’s fingers begin undoing Dean’s shirt buttons. Dean’s chest rising and falling steadily beneath his fingertips. 

Dean bites his lower lip as Castiel smooths his shirt back over his shoulders, his fingers glide over the scar of the bullet wound on his shoulder and he hesitates, his eyes flashing with guilt. 

“Ah-no. None of that,” says Dean, he grabs Castiel’s waist and guides his backward to the couch, “I don’t want to see that look on your face Cas, it wasn’t your fault.” 

Dean lifts Cas’s face to look at him, his thumb stroking over Castiel’s jaw as he kisses him, Castiel responds by winding his arms around Dean’s back and as the back of his legs hit the edge of the couch the pair tumble down together, landing with a laugh on the large soft cushions of the couch.

Castiel and Dean meet each other's eyes with wide matching grins, but then Dean looks down at Castiel’s mouth and his expression becomes soberer , he lowers his lips to meets Castiel’s and shifts his legs into a more comfortable position, between Cas’s. 

The kiss grows heated and desperate, with both of their tongues working together. Castiel groans into Dean’s mouth as Dean’s hands slip under him to grope at his ass. Dean pulls Castiel’s body closer to his own and presses himself down over him, so that Castiel can feel Dean’s hardness against him, the feel of it sending excitement shooting through him like lightning. Castiel’s hands run through Dean’s short hair, down the back of his neck and smooth out over his bare shoulders. 

Pulling up suddenly, Dean looks at him with lustful eyes, his hair is spiked up wildly, he looks wrecked as he pants, “Is this ok?”

“More than ok, Dean,” says Castiel seriously.

Dean’s hands move to undo Castiel’s shirt, “and this?” 

Castiel smiles and nods as Dean makes quick work of opening up the front of Castiel’s shirt. As he reaches the ribbon that Castiel is wearing across his chest like a sash, Dean smiles, “You know,” he says cheekily as he unties the ribbon, “we could always save this, if you wanted, I’m sure we could find a use for it again…”

Castiel’s insides tingle as he pictures Dean tying his wrists with the ribbon, his cock twitches and he smirks up at Dean, “Yeah… save it.” 

Dean’s eyes light up and he carefully unwraps the ribbon before  sliding it off Cas's body and letting it slide through his fingers, pooling on the floor. Dean undoes the last few buttons of Castiel’s shirt and then dips his head down to kiss and lick at Castiel’s chest. Dean pays careful attention to his nipples, teasing them with the tip of his tongue until they’re firm little stubs. Castiel’s head pushes back into the pillows of the couch and he lets out a needy moan.

“Shit, Dean.” he sighs.

Dean looks up, “This still ok, you can tell me if you want me to stop. I don’t know how far you wanted to-”

“Don’t you dare stop!” Castiel says suddenly, cutting Dean off mid-sentence, “It feels amazing.” 

“Kinky little fucker aren’t you?” smirks Dean, his hands trace down Castiel’s chest to the top of his pants, he pauses, “You’re sure?” 

“Yes! I’m sure, would you stop being such a ‘gentleman’ and just…. Arghh.”

Dean had tugged loose Castiel’s belt quickly, with a devilish grin, “You’re so perfect, Cas. I just wanted to make sure you’d say something if you didn’t want this…” 

“I want it, I want it, Dean. Please?” Castiel wiggles his hips from side to side to encourage Dean to return his focus to undressing him. His heart is pounding in his chest, his pants feel far to tight and he can’t imagine anything worse than Dean stopping now. 

“Alright, gorgeous, you got it.” Dean shifts backward on the couch and then leans forward to hook his fingers under the waistband of Castiel’s pants, Cas lifts his hips and Dean slowly pulls them down over his boxers, his erection standing up obviously as Dean works the pants down Cas’ legs, he takes in the sight of Castiel’s caramel thighs and his tongue darts out to wet his lips. 

“Fuck, look at you…” he says as he tugs Castiel’s shoes off so that he can free his feet from the pants, “You’re so unbelievably sexy, Cas… I want to kiss every inch of your skin…” 

“What’s stopping you?” asks Castel boldly. 

Dean pulls one of Castiel’s legs up to his mouth and Castiel moans as Dean begins working open mouth kisses from his ankles up to his leg. He kisses and nips lightly, grazing his teeth gently over Castiel’s flesh, while Castiel squirms beneath him.

As Dean reaches Castiel’s boxers, his eyes flick up to meet Cas’ again, “Please…” Castiel repeats and his cock twitches against the black fabric of his underwear, right in front of Dean’s face. 

Dean blinks and nods, he lowers his mouth to Castiel’s still hidden cock and breaths hot air through the material, mouthing at Cas’s cock. 

“Tease!” snarks Castiel arching himself up and toward Dean, “Dean…” 

“What’s the rush gorgeous?” Dean says against him, sending more bolts of excitement through his body, “I want to take my time, I want to remember this for the rest of my life, don’t you?” 

Castiel whines, actually full-on whines, turning his head into the pillow and nodding with his eyes squeezed shut, “Y-yes…” 

Dean mouths at him for a minute, enjoying the needy sounds that Castiel produces, before finally deciding to grant mercy. He licks a strip over Castiel’s hipbone and claws his fingers over the side of his boxers, pulling them down, painfully slowly. Castiel’s cock springs free and Dean takes the base in his hand, feeling the thick fleshy heat of it in his hand for a moment before he lowers his mouth over the head. 

Dean’s own cock presses even harder against his pants as Castiel lets out a sexy moan of relief when Dean finally wraps his lips around the head of his cock.  Castiel fists at the cushion of the couch, unable to get a purchase, he tangles his fingers in Dean's hair. Dean hums around him and Castiel groans again. 

Dean works Castiel’s cock over his tongue, lowering his mouth over him again and again, sucking on it and stroking the base with his hand. He can feel Castiel wriggling below him, he tastes that slightly bitter pre-cum on the tip of his dick. With a wet popping sound, Dean pulls off Castiel’s cock to look into the man’s face. 

Castiel looks up at him, his pupils are huge and his expression is one of indignance, “Why are you stopping?” 

Dean barely manages to hold back a laugh before he says softly, “I don’t want our first time, to be on a couch, you wanna move this to the bedroom?” 

“Our ‘first-time’?” says Castiel, eyes lighting up, “I thought… Never mind what I thought, yes. Yes, I want to move this to the bedroom.” 

“Good,” says Dean, carefully climbing off the couch and offering Castiel a hand to help him up. As Castiel stands his boxers fall to the floor and he hastily kicks them off his feet and follows Dean towards his bedroom. 

“Why do you still have pants on?” he asks his tone comically accusing.

Dean turns back to face him as he reaches the bedroom door, he chuckles and kicks off his shoes into the darkened room beyond, “Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” 

“Don’t test me, Mr. Winchester,” says Castiel smiling at Dean, he steps forward and kisses Dean as his hands search for the zipper at the top of Dean’s pants, Dean’s walking slowly backward, still kissing Cas as he undoes Dean’s pants and pushes them and his underwear down at the same time. Dean’s breath catches as Cas’ hand wraps around him and his eyes shut, as he groans. 

Castiel suddenly stops, and Dean looks at him with concern, “What’s wrong?” 

Blushing Castiel meets Dean’s eyes, “I brought… Well, I brought, you know, but they are in my jacket pocket…”

As understanding dawns on Dean, he laughs, “Such a boy scout Cas. But don’t worry, I have condoms and lube. In the drawer.” Dean points to his bedside table and Castiel relaxes, “It’s kinda hot though…” confesses Dean, “knowing that you wanted this too.” 

Castiel smiles and Dean takes his hand and gently leads him to the bed, kissing him before leaning him back and crawling over him. For a moment, Dean just looks into Castiel’s eyes, taking in the beautiful sea blue color, “You’re stunning.” he whispers. 

“So are you…” says Castiel before leaning up to meet Dean’s lips once more, “truly.” 

Dean kisses Cas and then carefully reaches over him to the drawer to take out the lube and a condom, laying them on the bed next to them. He works his way back down Cas’s body with a tender kiss and then takes his cock into his mouth again. His hands cup under Castiel’s thighs, lifting them up slightly before letting them rest into position. He grabs for the lube and feeling his way around the bottle uncaps it and squeezes some on to his fingers, he meets Castiel’s eyes for reassurance as he begins tracing circles around Cas's hole... 

With one hand holding Cas’ cock steady while his mouth sucks gently at the head, Dean’s other slicks up Castiel’s entrance with a good amount of the lube. As one long finger pokes past the tight ring of muscle, Dean pays extra attention to the moan that Castiel emits, when he is sure that it is pure pleasure and that there is no hint of pain, he presses in deeper.

It’s slow. Dean is being careful not to hurt Castiel as he opens him up, he grins around his cock as Castiel arches his back off the bed and whines again. That could very well be Dean’s new favorite sound… until 

“Fuck! Dean… please?” Castiel cusses out roughly and Dean’s momentarily so stunned that he pulls off Castiel to stare at him in shock. 

“Oh God, Dean…” he pants, “Shit! Don’t stop?!” 

“Damn Cas, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you cuss…” chuckles Dean. 

Castiel glares up at him, “Dean. Why are you stopping? Please? I can’t… I need…” 

Dean’s grin widens as Castiel rambles, “Fuck… you gonna beg me, Castiel?” 

“You fucker!” gasps Castiel as Dean’s finger pulls back to the edge and presses in again, “Oh shit… Dean. I’m ready, please? Please?” 

“Not yet…” says Dean, enjoying hearing Castiel coming apart beneath him, “You sound so hot!” 

“Dean!!” Castiel presses himself down on Dean’s finger, his whole body shaking with need, “Please? I want you…” 

“Want me to… what? Sorry, I didn’t catch that?” smirks Dean as he adds a second finger, stretching Castiel torturously slowly. 

“Oh my… shit. Dean, Dean… please? PLEASE?” 

“Shouldn’t be doing it, if you can’t say it, Cas.” 

“DEAN WINCHESTER! I swear to God, if you don’t fuck me right now, I’ll do it myself!” 

Dean laughs, pulling his fingers out slowly from inside Castiel, “All you had to do was ask, babe.” He grabs the condom from beside him and tears open the packet with his teeth, “You sure you’re ready?” 

Castiel glares at Dean, “Don’t be an assbutt!”

Dean smiles as he rolls the condom down his stiff cock and coats himself with lube, then he leans forward to capture Castiel’s lips with his own and carefully guides himself toward Castiel’s hole, “Promise me, you’ll tell me if it hurts?”

“I promise, please Dean?”

Dean nods and leans forward, keeping his eyes on Castiel’s face as his cock presses against Cas’ hole and pushes inside. 

Cas hisses and pulls Dean down for a kiss as Dean slowly eases into him. “You feel so good, Dean.”

Starting off slowly, Dean inches his way into Castiel and has to stop and let them both breathe and adjust when he is fully seated. Cas groans and raises his hips, pushing against Dean wanting him to move.

“Easy babe,” Dean says, “Just relax.”

“Just move!” begs Castiel pressing himself down on to Dean’s cock again, with a little more force. 

Dean can hear the need in Castiel’s voice and he lifts himself back, his cock sliding almost all the way out, before pressing back down, deeply inside Castiel, “Fuck.” He groans softly, “You really are fucking perfect, aren’t you?”

“Would you please… shut up and fuck me!” smirks Castiel cheekily. 

Dean meets his eyes with an expression that tells Castiel, his begging is about to pay off and he cries out loudly as Dean pulls back and snaps his hips forwards again powerfully. 

“Ah, shit! Yes!” 

His own desire and arousal taking over now, Dean begins to fuck into Castiel quickly and deeply. Grunting and moaning above him as Castiel babbles out a string of ‘Yesyesyesyes” beneath him. 

Dean lowers himself down and wraps his hands around Cas's shoulders pulling him down as he fucks into him, his body rubbing over Cas's cock with each thrust… Every push deep into Castiel is hitting his prostate and he can barely think straight, let alone form coherent words. 

“Cas, babe - I’m close, I want you to come. Come for me, gorgeous.” 

Cas's eyes go wide as Dean thrusts into him. His whole body tightens as he arches his back and comes with a cry. 

Dean loses his rhythm when Cas tightens around him and he gives a few more deep thrusts before he comes inside Cas, filling the condom and moaning loudly. 

Dean pulls out carefully with a sigh and a smile at Castiel, he ties off the condom and throws it into a nearby trash can. Then he falls next to Cas on the bed - catching his breath - they gaze into each other’s eyes as their breathing evens out. Dean leans forward and kisses Cas, “You alright?” he checks. 

“Mmmhmm.” Castiel sighs threading his fingers in between Dean’s and giving his hand a squeeze, “happy.” 

Dean smiles at him, “Me too.” 

When Dean regains the ability to stand, he clambers carefully off the bed and goes to the bathroom to get a wet cloth to clean them up with. Then he tosses it back into the bathroom and carefully gets back into bed to lay down next to Cas, who’s breathing softly and looking tired. 

“It’s ok gorgeous. You can sleep. It’ll be nice waking up next to you in the morning.” 

Castiel curls himself against Dean’s chest, feeling his body pressing warmly against his back, he lets his eyes slip shut and whispers into the darkness, “Goodnight, Dean.”

***

A couple of weeks later, Castiel is back at Dean’s apartment, he is staying the night and has a little surprise for Dean. Getting changed in the bathroom, he smiles as he looks at his reflection in the mirror. Then opens the bathroom door and steps out into the living room. 

Dean’s face lights up as he takes in Castiel’s bumblebee pajamas, he chuckles as he motions for Castiel to come to him, “You’re the cutest criminal I ever did see.” he says winking at Cas.  Castiel smiles warmly back at Dean, who cocks his head slightly to the side, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“Nothing…” says Castiel, but Dean raises an eyebrow unconvinced, Castiel sighs, “Fine… ok, well I wasn’t going to say anything - yet… Because I know that this is to fast - just remember that you asked. I just, well -” Castiel pauses looking at Dean seriously as his cheeks tinge with an adorable blush, “I feel like we have known each other for a lot longer than we have, I feel as though I can trust you completely and honestly… I feel like, no. I  _ know _ that I’m falling for you, Dean… I’m sorry, I know it’s too soon to be saying this but I-I love you.” 

Dean’s eyes widen as he stares at Castiel, who grows redder under his intense gaze.

“Please, say something… You don’t have to say… that but please just say something…” 

Dean smiles, and Castiel feels himself relaxing slightly as he waits for Dean’s response… “Cas…” Dean reaches out and takes Castiel’s hand in his own, “It’s not to soon, I just can’t believe that you… I mean,” Dean clears his throat, “I love you too. I knew from the moment I saw you, it was love at first  _ shot _ , you might say.” 

Castiel looks away, then smiles up at Dean, “You’re never going to let me live that down are you?” 

Dean laughs squeezing Castiel’s hand in his own, “Never,” he says, adding on in thought ‘for as long as we both shall live’. 


End file.
